MALAYSIAN figure skater Julian Yee failed to make the cut for the final round of the men’s singles figure skating in the country’s Winter Olympics debut in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

With only the top 24 of the 30 skaters from today’s Short Programme being able to qualify to the final round (free skating)  scheduled for tomorrow, Yee missed the chance with a mere 1.15-point difference, for a 25th placing at the Gangneung Ice Arena.

The 21-year-old, the first ever figure skater to qualify for the Winter Olympics from this tropical country, which has never experienced a single snowfall, however, justified his participation by setting a new season’s best with 73.58 points, behind Germany’s Paul Fentz, who finished in 24th place to earn the last qualifying spot with 74.73 points.

His previous season’s best for the short event was 71.93 points.

Kuala Lumpur-born Yee, who performed to To Build a Home, composed by The Cinematic Orchestra, was confident throughout the performance marked by a few mistakes to score 38.37 points in technical elements and 35.21 points for presentation.

Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tunku Imran Tuanku Jaafar was among the small group of Malaysian supporters seen cheering for the Malaysian contender.

Defending champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, making a  comeback from injury, topped the score with a remarkable 111.68 points, followed by Spain’s Javier Fernandez (107.58 points) and Japan’s Shoma Uno (104.17 points).

For the short event, each skater is allocated a maximum duration of two minutes 40 seconds (+/- 10s), while for the free skating, the participants are given up to four minutes (+/- 10s).

The free skating event is at 10am tomorrow (9am Malaysian time) at the same venue.

Alpine ski racer Jeffrey Webb,  Malaysia’s second and last representative at the Winter Games, will compete in the giant slalom event on Sunday and slalom on Thursday. – Bernama, February 16, 2018.