MANILA – Around 130 figure skaters from the Philippines and beyond are taking the ice for the Philippine National Figure Skating Championships 2025.
The annual tournament kicked off Thursday afternoon at the Mall of Asia Skating Rink in Pasay City.
"It's where we find out who are the best in the country and determine the national rankings. And also determine who will be the ones sent next year to international events," Philippine Skating Union president Nikki Cheng told ABS-CBN News.
"So this year we're very happy 'cause 2024 was a milestone for Philippine skating. It's the first time we breached a hundred participants. And this year 20% increase siya, we're around 130 participants. So we see a growing interest in the sport."
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The first day featured dazzling and upbeat performances from female and male figure skaters competing in the Open and Adult categories.
"The Open category I would say is a lot of people who are aspiring and also engaged in the sport na they may not be able to reach their goals yet of being in the national category. However, we still provided an avenue for them," Cheng said.
"We feel that skating is perceived as a sport for the young, but we also want to show that there are a lot of people that are adults that are partaking and are interested in the sport, so we also provide an avenue for them to compete," the PHSU president explained.
The second and third day of the tournament will see elite figure skaters take the ice for the nationals and invitational categories, which include the short program and free skating.
Cheng said the athletes who join the national category pass two tests, then are placed in certain age brackets.
"May pinapasa silang tests. So they should pass two tests and they are in certain age brackets. Sila 'yung pumapasok sa national category. Whoever wins in this event, they have their national titles," she shared.
"By invitational, we mean that we invite also foreign delegates to partake in our competition. So, it just makes the event more competitive, because it's not only Philippines na naglalaban-laban but even Koreans come here, Singapore and Indonesia," Cheng added.
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When asked about the increase of participants this year, Cheng said it's a "collective effort" from skating stakeholders.
"We're trying to strengthen our grassroots, 'yung learn-to-skate program namin. Before the learn-to-skate was mostly held during summers lang. But this time around, it's all year na. It's every month, may cycle coming on learn-to-skate. So, kumbaga meron ng laging new faces, new blood, new recruits for the sport," she said.
The PHSU president is optimistic more Filipinos will try out skating and eventually compete for the flag in international tournaments.
"We're very hopeful, and I think that these numbers do not lie, and it shows us the growing interest on the sport. We see 'yung coaches, athletes 'yung schedules nila jampacked na. So, we're very happy to see this sport grow and to share this with Filipinos," Cheng said.
"And we're also working hard to bring events here, to host international events so more people can see it and the sport can be exposed more also in mainstream media," she added.
The Philippine National Figure Skating Championships 2025 will run until November 8, Saturday.