Pagiel Sng becomes first Singaporean male to qualify for ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships

Eighteen-year-old Pagiel Sng became the first Singaporean male figure skater to qualify for the coveted International Skating Union Four Continents Figure Skating Championships after clinching the gold medal at the inaugural SEA Open Figure Skating Trophy’s Senior Men’s category.

The SEA Open Figure Skating Trophy is the first international figure skating competition to be held in Singapore, which ran from Sep 2 to 4 at The Rink in JCube.

A total of 110 figure skaters from 12 countries participated in the competition – namely Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Hong Kong, India, Korea, New Zealand and Chinese Taipei. 

Pagiel took the lead after the competition’s short programme on Sep 3 before skating to “My Name” on the final day, which allowed him to emerge victorious with a score of 172.12.

“Having taken the lead on Saturday after the short programme, I started to overthink going into the free skate today. But, my coach Robi Chalmers asked me to simply focus on skating this programme for myself,” said Pagiel at the medal ceremony.

Pagiel’s performance at the competition met the minimum Total Elements score required to qualify for the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.

The ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition that is open to all skaters representing non-European countries, such as those from Asia, Africa and Oceania. 

The championship will be held next year at Colorado Springs, USA from Feb 7 to 12.