Julian Yee

Julian Yee
Personal information
Full name	Julian Yee Zhi-Jie
Country represented	Malaysia
Born	(1997-05-26) 26 May 1997 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Residence	Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Coach	Michael Hopfes, Doug Leigh
Former coach	Harry Janto Leo
Choreographer	Elvin Wong
Training locations	Petaling Jaya, Malaysia Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Began skating	2001
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	213.99 2017 Worlds
Short program	72.59 2016 CS Nebelhorn Trophy
Free skate	144.25 2017 Worlds
Medal record Representing  Malaysia Asian Open Trophy 2016 Thailand Senior men's singles Representing  Malaysia Europa Cup Skate Helena 2013 Serbia Junior men's singles ISU World Development Trophy 2013 Philippines Junior men's singles 2013 Taipei Open Figure Skating Tournament 2013 Taiwan Junior men's singles Skate Down Under 2013 2013 Australia Junior men's singles Asian Junior Figure Skating Challenge 2011 Thailand Junior men's singles

Julian Yee Zhi-Jie (Chinese: 茹自杰; pinyin: Rú Zìjié;^[1] born 26 May 1997) is a Malaysian figure skater. He is a four-time Malaysian senior national champion (2013–2016) and has competed in the final segment at seven ISU Championships, including two World Championships.^[2][3]

Personal life

Julian Yee Zhi-Jie was born on 26 May 1997 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[4] His mother, Irene Cheow,^[5] served as the deputy president of the Ice Skating Association of Malaysia from 2012 to 2014.^[6] He has two brothers, Ian and Ryan Yee Zhi-Jwen. Ryan has also competed internationally in figure skating.^[4]

Career

Early years

Julian Yee began learning to skate at age four at the Sunway Pyramid Ice Rink in Malaysia.^[7][8] He and his brothers were introduced to skating by their mother, Irene. Harry Janto Leo became his coach in 2004.^[8]

During his early years, Yee competed only in ISI-sanctioned competitions, which were regarded as recreational skating. He won the elementary category at the inaugural Malaysian National Championships and defended his title the following year. He learned all his double jumps by the age of twelve.

In 2010, Yee received additional coaching from Chen Lu and Denis Petrov. In 2011, he became the youngest skater to win the Junior Men's category, at age 13 years 10 months, thereby breaking the previous record held by his brother, Ryan Yee Zhi-Jwen.

2011–12 to 2012–13

In the 2011–12 season, Yee was selected to represent Malaysia in the ISU Junior Grand Prix. He competed at events in Milan, Italy and Tallinn, Estonia, but failed to reach the free skate.

In 2013, Yee became first Malaysian to obtain the qualifying scores for the World Junior Championships. He finished 34th in the short program and did not qualify for the free skate. He learned most of the triple jumps by sixteen.

2013–14 to 2014–15

In 2014, Yee became the first Malaysian to reach the free skate at a Four Continents Championships.^[9] One of the youngest skaters at the event, held in Taipei City from 20–25 January 2014, he qualified for the free skate and finished 23rd overall. At the 2014 Malaysian Open National Championship, Yee held the lead after the short program and defended his title to become only the second Malaysian skater to win the Senior Men's title in consecutive years.

In the 2014–15 JGP season, Yee finished sixth in Aichi, Japan, scoring personal bests in the short program, free skate, and combined total. In March 2015, competing at his fourth World Junior Championships, he qualified for the free skate and finished 19th overall. He also managed to qualify for Malaysia their first ever Youth Winter Olympics spot but he was not able to compete in it as he was over-aged.

2015–16 season

Yee started the 2015–16 JGP season with a 7th-place result in Riga, Latvia, scoring personal bests in the short, free skate and combined total (176.79). After placing first in the junior category at the 2015 Skate Canada Summer Skate in Thornhill, he competed at the JGP in Logroño, Spain and finished 4th – the highest result by a Malaysian in the Junior Grand Prix. He won his first ISU Challenger Series medal, silver, at the Denkova-Staviski Cup.

Yee finished 15th at the 2016 Four Continents Championships in Taipei after placing 15th in the short and 14th in the free. In March, he qualified for the free skate at the 2016 World Championships in Boston; he ranked 22nd in the short, 19th in the free, and 21st overall. During the season, he trained in Petaling Jaya and Barrie, Ontario, coached by Michael Hopfes and Doug Leigh.^[4]

Yee has also trained in the Elvis Stojko Arena (Toronto, Canada), the Chinese National Arena (Harbin, China), and the Beijing Capital Gymnasium (Beijing, China).

2016–17 season

Yee won a Bronze at the Asian Open Trophy, Manila in August 2016. He then relocated to Barrie, Ontario to train full-time, taking a gap year off his University studies. In September, he reached 4th position in the Nebelhorn Trophy and in Oct, 5th place in the Warsaw Cup, both competitions which are in the ISU Challenger series.

He finished 15th overall in the 2017 Four Continents Championships in PyeongChang, South Korea and then went directly to Sapporo, Japan to compete in his first Asian Winter Games. He was placed 8th there, with a new personal best of 222.69.

Yee will be heading to Finland on 27 March top compete in his second World Figure Skating Championships.

Programs

Competitive highlights

CS: ISU Challenger Series; JGP: ISU Junior Grand Prix

References

External links

Media related to Julian Yee at Wikimedia Commons

• Julian Zhi Jie YEE at the International Skating Union