Blade runner: Hyderabad skater K. Stephen Paul in action during the Canada Cup Finale at the Calgary Olympic Oval at Calgary in Canada.

Hyderabad skater K. Stephen Paul, one of the spirited exponents of the sport from the City of Pearls, is making his mark in Canada. Stephen impressed in his last outing, the Canada Cup Finale, which saw more than 125 skaters from all over the world participate at the Calgary Olympic Oval. Stephen finished in the 61st position in the men’s 1000-metre speedskating final while he settled for the 64th spot in the 500 metres final.

While these results might be seen as ordinary by some, Stephen says he’s thrilled. “I personally think it is a great achievement. Though I finished in the 64th place, there were at least 30 skaters ahead of me, all in a bracket of a one-second time difference,” he said. To his credit, Stephen finished only 1.12 seconds behind multiple-time inline speed skating world champion Joey Mantia (28).

Stephen added: “Because of the level of competition, almost everybody whom I competed against was more experienced — I had competed with just two years’ training on ice.”

The Canada Cup Finale was the last championship of the season, which gave every participating skater impetus to finish their seasons on a high. Stephen started his season with a timing of 39.60 seconds in 500m and 1:18.50 in 1000m. He eventually shaved two seconds in 500m and four seconds in 1000m. Stephen is just a second short of the cut-off for the 500m World Championships, and only 1.5s away from making the cut for the 1000m Worlds.