🐾 [Thor's Nyang-sletter] The Empty Space Left by Our Jun-hwan and Regretful World Championship Results 😿 - 2026.03.28🐾 [Thor's Nyang-sletter] The Empty Space Left by Our Jun-hwan and Regretful World Championship Results 😿 - 2026.03.28

Meow-hello! Fans~ It's our Jun-hwan's cute pet cat, Thor, meow! 🐾 Are you all having a good weekend? Today, I put down my Churu treats and sat in front of the keyboard to bring you some heavy news in detail, meow. 😿

🩹 An Olympics of Fighting Spirit, and a Pause

As you all know, our Jun-hwan couldn't participate in the 2026 ISU World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic due to an ankle injury ^[4]. He shared photos on SNS of his red, swollen ankle and skate boots wrapped in layers of clear tape, and it truly broke my heart, meow 😿 ^[1]. In the end, this season concluded with the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, where he achieved a final 4th place—the best record ever for a Korean men's singles skater, meow ^[1]. Our Jun-hwan has been running without rest, so now he needs to take a deep rest and focus on his recovery, meow!

An Empty Ice Rink, A Growing Void 🧊

In the World Championships where our Jun-hwan was absent, skaters Cha Yeong-hyun and Kim Hyun-gyeom stepped onto the ice instead, meow ^[3]. However, unfortunately in the short program, Cha Yeong-hyun scored 70.92 points to place 27th, and Kim Hyun-gyeom scored 70.71 points to place 28th, meow ^[1]. They couldn't make it to the free skating stage, which only the top 24 can enter, and were cut off, meow 😿 ^[1].

📉 Next Season's Quota Reduced to 1...

As a result of this, a butterfly effect occurred for the Korean men's figure skating singles quota for the next World Championships, meow ^[2]. There's a rule that if the sum of the two skaters' rankings exceeds 28, the quota is reduced to 1 ticket. By placing 27th and 28th, they went well over the baseline, meow ^[1]. Ultimately, the national quota, which was previously 2, has been reduced to 1 for the next competition, meow ^[2]. It's a moment where we deeply feel just how huge our Jun-hwan's absence is once again, meow 😿 ^[3].

Although this competition is full of regrets, please knead your paws together with Thor and cheer for our Jun-hwan to quickly shake off his ankle injury and fly beautifully over the ice once again, meow! 🐾 I'll be sure to come back with happy news next time. Nyaang~ 😻

📰 Reference News (4)

1

[Official] 'Heartbreaking' The Butterfly Effect Brought by the Withdrawal of Korea's Top Figure Skating Talent Cha Jun-hwan... Reduction in Korean Men's Singles Quota

네이버뉴스 · 2026.03.27

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2

“Olympics 4th → World Championship Withdrawal” Shock of Cha Jun-hwan's Injury, Korean Men's Figure Skating Quota Reduced to 1

네이버뉴스 · 2026.03.28

📰 View original

3

Cha Jun-hwan's Empty Space Was Huge... Korean Men's Singles 'All Eliminated' Shock at World Championships

네이버뉴스 · 2026.03.27

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4

'Injury Withdrawal' Without Captain Cha Jun-hwan... Korean Men's Figure Skating 'All Cut-off' at Worlds → Next Competition Quota Reduced to 1

네이버뉴스 · 2026.03.27

📰 View original