South Korea has lost one quota place in the men's singles for next year's Figure Skating World Championships following subpar performances by its two skaters at this year's event in Prague, Czechia. Cha Young-hyun placed 27th with 70.92 points and Kim Hyun-gyeom 28th with 70.71 points in the short program, missing the cut for the free skate.
The International Skating Union (ISU) determines quota allocations for the World Championships based on the performances of each country's top two skaters. Nations entering two competitors earn three spots the following year if the pair's combined rankings in the short program total 13 or fewer, but drop to one spot if the total exceeds 28. South Korea's Cha Young-hyun (27th) and Kim Hyun-gyeom (28th) combined for 55, triggering the reduction to a single entry for 2027.
The duo competed at the 02 Arena on Thursday local time during the ongoing championships but failed to advance to the free skate, which is limited to the top 24. Absent was Cha Jun-hwan, the 2023 world silver medalist who finished fourth at last month's Winter Olympics in Milan but skipped the event to recover from injuries.
Leading after the short program was U.S. two-time defending champion Ilia Malinin with a personal-best 111.29 points, followed by France's Adam Siao Him Fa (101.85) and Estonia's Aleksandr Selevko (96.49).