Fil-American standout Isabella Gamez and naturalized Filipino-Russian partner Aleksandr Korovin battled off-season rust to clinch a bronze medal in the pairs event of the Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy 2025 on Monday at the Mall of Asia Skating Rink.
Despite a less-than-perfect performance, the duo managed to shake off early jitters and secure a podium finish—just six months after narrowly missing out on a medal with a fourth-place finish at the ninth Asian Winter Games.
“We needed a quick turnaround and recovery,” admitted the 26-year-old Gamez, who hails from Cape Coral, Florida. “I’m disappointed with myself because this is the first competition of the season. But it’s still early, and we’ll learn from our mistakes and work harder to come back stronger.”
Gamez and Korovin opened strong, placing second in Sunday’s short program with 55.99 points. However, a two-point deduction in Monday’s free skate pushed them down to third place with a score of 87.8, finishing with a combined total of 143.49 points.
“Yesterday’s short program was okay, but our long program today lacked preparation,” said Korovin, acknowledging their need for sharper execution moving forward.
China’s Jiaxuan Zhang and Yihang Huang claimed gold with a commanding total of 190.23 points, while North Korean pair Ryom Tae Ok and Han Kum Chol secured silver with 151.14 points.
In the junior women’s category, South Korea’s Seojin Youn dominated the competition with 165.11 points. Hong Kong’s Ariel Guo (153.31) and China’s Ruichen Tong (142.38) rounded out the top three, while the Philippines’ Samantha Mascarinas finished in 22nd place with 87.29 points.
