Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto showcased a stellar performance in the short program, positioning herself strongly to defend her title at her last NHK Trophy event. Sakamoto, who announced her retirement plans after the upcoming Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in June, skated flawlessly to “Time to Say Goodbye.” Her routine included a triple lutz, a double axel, and a triple flip-triple toe loop combo, earning her a season-best score of 77.05. This placed her nearly 10 points ahead of Sofia Samodelkina from Kazakhstan, who secured the second spot with 67.75 points. You Young from South Korea claimed the third position with 67.66 points.
Despite previously winning three consecutive world championships until 2024, Sakamoto settled for second place at this year’s worlds in Boston. The 25-year-old athlete had clinched the women’s singles bronze medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. Following her second-place finish at the Grand Prix de France last month, Sakamoto aimed to reclaim her dominance at the home Grand Prix event.
Expressing her feelings, Sakamoto mentioned, “I was a little nervous since arriving here but was able to put that behind me and skate a solid program. I completed all my jumps successfully and will look to continue that in the free skate tomorrow.” Looking ahead, Japan’s medal hopeful for the Olympics will face tough competition from Russian figure skater Adeliia Petrosian in Italy. Petrosian, a 17-year-old prodigy, has secured two consecutive national titles and remained unbeaten over the past two seasons, triumphing in eight consecutive domestic events. She sealed her Olympic qualification by winning the gold medal at the ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating qualifier in Beijing in September.
Additionally, the 2024 European Champion Loena Hendrickx made a return to the Grand Prix series after sitting out the previous season due to injury. Hendrickx managed to land her first two jumps successfully but stumbled on her third, a triple flip, securing the fourth spot with 62.45 points. She qualified for the Olympics by finishing third at the ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating qualifier.
In the men’s competition, local favorite Yuma Kagiyama led after the short program. The 2022 Olympic silver medalist delivered a commendable performance, executing a quad lutz, a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination, and finishing with a triple axel, earning 98.58 points. While Kagiyama expressed satisfaction with his jumps, he acknowledged errors in spins and step sequences that he found regrettable. Kagiyama’s compatriot Shun Sato secured the second spot with 96.67 points, followed by South Korea’s Cha Jun-hwan with 91.60 points.
In ice dance, world bronze medalists Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson from Great Britain led after the rhythm dance with a season-best score of 81.57 points. They were followed by Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri from Italy. Notably, the 2022 Olympic champions Wenjing Sui and Cong Han from China topped the pairs’ short program, showcasing a strong performance to “Habanera” and setting a new season’s best score of 74.63.
The ISU Grand Prix Series comprises six international events in a cumulative point-scoring format, with each athlete or team eligible to score points in up to two of the six scheduled events. The top six point-earners in each discipline will qualify for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final scheduled for December 4-7 in Nagoya, Japan.