Martinez stays in Winter Olympics hunt

MANILA, Philippines — Michael Christian Martinez stayed in striking distance of his Winter Olympics dream after his solid short program in the 49th CS Nebelhorn Trophy Thursday in Oberstdorf, Germany (yesterday in Manila).

Martinez earned a total segment score of 67.50 for his routine to the tune of “O Fortuna” to rank seventh among the skaters bidding to catch the last bus to the winter showpiece set next year in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The 20-year-old Martinez, the first Southeast Asian to compete in the Winter Games in 2014, will try to impress the judges even more in the next segment, the free-skate, in his effort to land in the Top 6 and book a return trip to the Olympiad.

Belgian Jorick Hendrickx topped the men’s short program with a brilliant performance to “Je suis malade” landing a triple Axel, triple Lutz-triple toe and triple loop for a personal-best 85.15 points.

American Alexander Johnson came in second with 82.55 followed by Swedish Alexander Majorov with 77.01. Korean June Hyuong Lee (74.37), Italian Matteo Rizzo (72.97), Martinez’ Southeast Asian Games rival, Malaysian Julian Yee (71.83) and Ukrainian Yaroslav Paniot  (67.68) ranked ahead of  the Filipino skater.

Overall, Martinez occupied eighth but he stood at seventh in the race for the sixth Winter Olympics slots as No. 2 Johnson is no longer in the running, having already qualified from the previous World Championships.

Aside from Martinez, lady skater Alisson Petricheto is also seeking to make it to Pyeongchang. Petricheto was performing in the short program at presstime.