Despite the absence of star skater Sofia Frank, the Philippine Skating Union (PHSU) is confident about its athletes’ chances in the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand next week.

PHSU president Nikki Cheng told DAILY TRIBUNE that national skaters Maxine Bautista, Paolo Borromeo and Cathryn Limketkai are expected to step up and perform well when figure skating makes a return in this prestigious biennial meet after six years.

Frank, the gold medalist in the 2022 Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy in Jakarta, begged off from donning the national colors as she is back in the United States to focus on her mental health.

Still, Cheng believes that they have what it takes to win with Bautista, Borromeo and Limketkai all capable of landing on the medal podium.

“I’m very optimistic about our team right now. Maxine has been the women’s champion in the national division for the past two years,” Cheng said.

“Paolo already represented us in the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China. If we look at the performance of Southeast Asian nations, the Philippines ranks the highest with Paolo and Cathryn.”

Cheng, however, said they can’t underestimate other teams as host Thailand will be fielding its best junior skaters.

“In figure skating, it’s a bit weird since they will be taking on athletes in the junior’s division. There are some really strong junior skaters from Thailand so we will see if we can aim for the gold,” Cheng said.

Both Borromeo and Limketkai finished within the top 10 in the figure skating event of the Asian Winter Games.

Borromoeo finished in 10th in the men’s division with 178.96 points while Limketkai sat in ninth place in the women’s division after scoring 137.19 points.

Cheng is also hoping speed skater Peter Groseclose doesn’t get injured as he is also seen as a favorite to win.

“Peter really has the strongest chances. He has been training in the Olympic Bowl in Utah,” Cheng said.

The Los Angeles-based Groseclose finished fifth place in the Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon, South Korea where he clocked in at 41.697 seconds in the men’s 500-meter event.

Groseclose also captured a bronze medal in the ISU Junior World Cup 2 in Bormio, Italy last November.