Shoma Uno of Japan leads the Men’s Short Program in the World Championships at Saitama (JPN) © ISU
Reigning World Champion Shoma Uno skated to the lead as the ISU World Figure Skating Championships continued Thursday in Saitama (JPN) with the Men’s Short Program.
Men: Shoma Uno (JPN) jumps to the lead
Reigning World Champion Shoma Uno of Japan started his title-defending mission in style and took the lead over Ilia Malinin (USA) and Korea’s 2022 ISU Four Continents Champion Junwhan Cha.
Skating to “Gravity”, Uno delivered in spite of hurting his ankle in a fall in practice. He opened with a quad flip and followed up with a quad toe-double toe combination and triple Axel. The two-time Olympic medalist collected a level four for his spins and a level three for his footwork to post a season’s best score of 104.63 points.
“For the past year or two I was able to perform exactly as I trained, at every competition and I was satisfied with that and I didn’t really expect anything more,” Uno said. “With the fall in the training, I was in a pretty bad shape for about the past 10 days and I thought about what I could do in my performance.
“I really wanted to make sure what I needed to do. Going into this with a calm mind was not the answer, so I really pushed myself to be motivated and in a fighting mode. With the strong mind I was able to deliver today so I was more happy than usual.”
Malinin had struggled all season with his Short Program, but not this time. In Saitama he went out and impressed the judges and the audience to “I Put A Spell On You”. The ISU Grand Prix Final bronze medalist nailed a quad Lutz-triple toe, quad toe, triple Axel and picked up a level four for the spins and footwork. The 2022 World Junior Champion set a new personal best with 100.38 points.
Ilia Malinin (USA) in the Men’s Short Program at Saitama (JPN) © ISU
“I feel excited, I have been working to this moment my whole life,” the 18-year-old said. “This is an amazing moment for me, and I have been practicing these last couple of weeks so hard, and with so much effort, so I am really glad I was finally able to pull off this short program.”
He was delighted with his improvement. “I think about every mistake that I make, I look at what I can change and use to my advantage, and use it to improve, all the time, every day.”
Cha was on fire in his Michael Jackson routine, reeling off a quad Salchow, triple Lutz-triple loop, triple Axel and difficult spins and steps. The Korean Champion scored a personal best with 99.64 points.
Junhwan Cha (KOR) in the Men’s Short Program at Saitama (JPN) © ISU
“It’s amazing. During this season, I often had a hard time. Even if the training goes well, it didn’t come out of the competition.
“Today shows what I train, so I'm very happy about that,” the 2022 Four Continents Champion said.
“[In preparing for Worlds] I just don’t think about anything else, just focus on my jumps, spins, skating and music. And just train hard.”
Competition on Saturday should prove to be exciting with more men inches from the podium. 2023 ISU Four Continents silver medalist Keegan Messing (CAN) stands in fourth place after an excellent performance (98.75). Kevin Aymoz (FRA) came fifth (95.56 points) and Jason Brown (USA) rounds up the top six with 94.17 points.
Skaters/Couples need to have obtained a minimum total technical score in Short Program and Free Skating in order to compete at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.
Following the IOC recommendation and in order to protect the integrity of ice skating competitions and for the safety of all the participants of international ice skating competitions, the ISU Council based on Article 17.1.q)i) of the ISU Constitution, agreed that with immediate effect and until further notice, no Skaters belonging to the ISU Members in Russia (Russian Skating Union and the Figure Skating Federation of Russia) and Belarus (Skating Union of Belarus) shall be invited or allowed to participate in International ice skating competitions including ISU Championships and other ISU Events. The same applies to Officials listed in the respective ISU Communications and/or Regulations under Russia and Belarus (see ISU Communication 2469).
Schedule of the event
The schedule of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships is as follows:
Wednesday, March 22: Pairs & Women’s Short Programs
Thursday, March 23: Pairs Free Skating & Men’s Short Program
Friday, March 24: Rhythm Dance & Women’s Free Skating
Saturday, March 25: Free Dance & Men’s Free Skating
Sunday, March 26: Exhibition Gala
For full entries and results, please see the ISU event page and the official website. Follow the discussion on social media using #WorldFigure and #FigureSkating.
Where to watch the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2023:
The ISU World Figure Skating Championships will be live streamed on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. Geo-restrictions will apply in markets where TV rights are in place. You will find the full list on the Where to Watch webpage here.
Subscribe to the Skating ISU YouTube Channel to receive alerts when the live streams start and when new videos are posted.
.png)
