Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto showcased a dominant performance in the short program on Friday, positioning herself favorably to defend her title at what she has noted will be her final NHK Trophy appearance. Sakamoto announced her intention to retire from competitive skating following the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics next year.
Skating to the tune of “Time to Say Goodbye,” Sakamoto executed a triple lutz, a double axel, and a triple flip-triple toe loop combination, securing a season-best score of 77.05. This put her nearly 10 points ahead of Sofia Samodelkina of Kazakhstan, who secured the second spot with 67.75 points. South Korea’s You Young claimed the third spot with 67.66 points.
Despite clinching three consecutive world championships until 2024, Sakamoto settled for second place at this year’s worlds in Boston in March. The 25-year-old athlete also clinched the women’s singles bronze medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
After finishing as the runner-up behind compatriot Ami Nakai at the Grand Prix de France last month, Sakamoto aimed to reestablish her dominance at her home Grand Prix event.
Expressing her feelings, Sakamoto mentioned, “I was a little nervous upon arriving here but managed to overcome that and deliver a solid program. I successfully executed all my jumps and aim to maintain that momentum in the upcoming free skate.”
In the quest for an Olympic medal, Sakamoto will face tough competition from Russian figure skater Adeliia Petrosian in Italy. Petrosian, a 17-year-old skater, has clinched two consecutive national titles and maintained an unbeaten streak over the past two seasons, triumphing in eight consecutive domestic events.
Paving her way to the Olympics, Petrosian secured the gold medal at the ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating qualifier held in Beijing in September. Additionally, the 2024 European Champion Loena Hendrickx returned to the Grand Prix series after sitting out the prior season due to injury.
Hendrickx managed to land her first two jumps but stumbled on her third, a triple flip, resulting in a fourth-place finish with 62.45 points. She secured her Olympic qualification by finishing third at the ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating qualifier.
In the men’s category, local favorite Yuma Kagiyama claimed the top spot after the short program. The 2022 Olympic silver medalist successfully executed a quad lutz at the start of his routine, followed by a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination, and closed with a triple axel, accumulating 98.58 points.
Reflecting on his performance, Kagiyama expressed satisfaction with his jumps but regretted the errors in spins and steps. Shun Sato, another Japanese skater, secured the second position with 96.67 points, trailed by South Korea’s Cha Jun-hwan with 91.60 points.
In ice dance, Great Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, world bronze medalists, led after the rhythm dance with a season-best score of 81.57 points. They were followed by the Italian duo Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri. The United States’ Alex and Maia Shibutani, making a comeback after a seven-year hiatus, claimed the sixth spot.
The pairs event saw China’s Wenjing Sui and Cong Han, the 2022 Olympic champions, seize the top spot after the short program. Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii secured the second spot, with Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko from an undisclosed country finishing third.
Sui and Han delivered a compelling short program set to “Habanera,” featuring impressive elements like a triple toe, triple twist, and a significant throw triple flip, earning them a season’s best score of 74.63.
The ISU Grand Prix Series, comprising six international events in a cumulative point-scoring format, allows each athlete or team to score in up to two of the scheduled events. The top six point-earners in each discipline will qualify for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final scheduled for Dec. 4-7 in Nagoya, Japan.