Yuma Kagiyama stormed to the top of the Short Program standings at NHK Trophy 2023 in Osaka, Japan © ISU
Yuma Kagiyama (JPN) beat teammate and two-time World Champion Shoma Uno in the Men’s Short Program as the first day of competition at the NHK Trophy concluded Friday in Osaka (JPN). The NHK Trophy is the sixth and concluding event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series and is the final opportunity to get into the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2023/24 in Beijing (CHN) December 7-10.
Switzerland’s Lukas Britschgi ranks third heading into the Free Skating on Saturday.
Kagiyama upgraded his content from the ISU Grand Prix in France by adding a second quadruple jump in his Short Program to “Believer” by Imagine Dragons and the risk paid off. The two-time ISU World silver medalist pulled off a quadruple Salchow, quad toe-triple toe, triple Axel as well as level-four spins and footwork. The 20-year-old, who had missed most of the past season recovering from an injury, set a season’s best of 105.51 points.
Kagiyama posted a season's best in the Short Program at NHK Trophy 2023 in Osaka, Japan © ISU
“Regarding today‘s performance, I am to 90 percent satisfied,” Kagiyama said. “I did everything like in practice from start to finish.
"I am always trying to reach out to the audience and I feel I was able to appeal to the audience. As for the Free Skating, I really want to concentrate on my performance and my result will come afterwards. My priority will be to do a clean performance.”
Uno opened his performance to “I Love You (Kung Fu)” and “Clair de Lune” with a quadruple flip and followed up with a quad toe-triple toe combination. However, he underrotated the combo. The two-time Olympic medalist went on to complete a triple Axel and difficult spins and footwork to score 100.20 points.
Shoma Uno had to settle for second place on the opening day of NHK Trophy 2023 in Osaka, Japan © ISU
“I did have an underrotation for my quad to and my score was not that great, but overall for this competition and for the content that I put out today, I am satisfied. I did what I do in practice. It wasn’t that bad,” Uno commented.
Britschgi put out an entertaining program to “I’m In the Mood for Love” and “Superstition”, hitting a quad toe-double toe, triple Axel, triple Lutz as well as strong spins and steps. The Warsaw Cup Champion earned 86.42 points.
Lukas Britschgi ended the Short Program in third place at NHK Trophy in Osaka, Japan © ISU
“It was not perfect, but it is always such an honor and joy to skate in Japan for this audience. I am happy with the performance more or less and third place after the Short Program is always a good place to be,” the Swiss Skater noted. “(In the Free Skating) I want to do what I do in practice and show a good performance like I did in France (at the Grand Prix).
"I want to give back to the audience, entertain the audience and if the audience is happy I’m mostly also happy. Today I got really good feedback from the audience. So I go with a smile to sleep tonight.”
Camden Pulkinen (USA) was edged out of the top three by just 0.02 points, coming fourth with a clean performance at 86.40 points. 2022 ISU European bronze medalist Deniss Vasiljevs (LAT) finished fifth on 82.14 points followed by Mihhail Selevko (EST) at 81.31 points.
Camden Pulkinen missed out on third by just 0.2 points at NHK Trophy in Osaka, Japan © ISU
Full results for NHK Trophy are available here.
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series consists of six events: Skate America, Skate Canada International, Grand Prix de France, Cup of China, the Grand Prix Espoo (FIN) and NHK Trophy (JPN). Skaters collect points towards to qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2023/24 in Beijing (CHN).
ISU Grand Prix Standings
The General Announcement of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series is available here on the ISU website. The individual announcements are published on the ISU Event section under each dedicated Grand Prix event (filter with the relevant Event Series).
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Where to Watch
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ISU Grand Prix Schedule
The schedules of each ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events are available below:
20 - 22 Oct, 2023 Skate America, Allen (Texas, USA)
27 – 29 Oct, 2023 Skate Canada International, Vancouver (CAN)
03 - 05 Nov, 2023 Grand Prix de France, Angers (FRA)
10 - 12 Nov, 2023 Grand Prix Cup of China, Chongqing (CHN)
17 - 19 Nov, 2023 Grand Prix Espoo, Espoo (FIN)
24 - 26 Nov, 2023 NHK Trophy, Osaka (JPN)
07 - 10 Dec, 2023 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Beijing (CHN)
About ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series started in 1995 (previously known as the ISU Champions Series) and consists of six invitational international senior events and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. The top six of the past World Championships are seeded. Competitors collect points in their events towards the qualification for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Only the top six Skaters / Couples in each discipline can qualify for the Final.
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