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 declared will be her final NHK Trophy. Sakamoto announced her intention to retire from competitive skating after the upcoming Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in June.
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, earning a season-best score of 77.05. This placed her nearly 10 points ahead of Sofia Samodelkina from Kazakhstan, who secured the second position with 67.75 points. South Korea’s You Young clinched 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 claimed the women’s singles bronze medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
Following her second-place finish at the season-opening Grand Prix de France last month, Sakamoto aimed to reclaim her dominance at her home Grand Prix. Expressing her feelings, Sakamoto stated, “I was a little nervous upon arriving here, but I managed to put that aside and deliver a solid performance. I successfully completed all my jumps and aim to maintain this form in the free skate tomorrow.”
As Japan’s strongest contender for an Olympic medal, Sakamoto will face tough competition from Russian figure skater Adeliia Petrosian in Italy. The 17-year-old Petrosian, who has secured two consecutive national titles and remained undefeated over the past two seasons, emerged victorious in eight consecutive domestic events, earning her spot in the Olympics by winning the gold medal at the ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating qualifier in Beijing in September.
Meanwhile, the 2024 European Champion Loena Hendrickx made a comeback to the Grand Prix series after sitting out the previous season due to injury. Despite landing her first two jumps successfully, Hendrickx stumbled on her third, a triple flip, and concluded the short program in fourth place with 62.45 points. Hendrickx secured her spot in the Olympics by finishing third at the ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating qualifier.
In the men’s competition, local favorite Yuma Kagiyama took the lead after the short program. The 2022 Olympic silver medalist impressed with a quad lutz at the beginning of his routine and further showcased a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination before finishing with a triple axel, earning 98.58 points. Kagiyama’s compatriot Shun Sato followed in second place with 96.67 points, with South Korea’s Cha Jun-hwan securing the third spot with 91.60 points.
In ice dance, world bronze medalists Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson from Great Britain excelled in the rhythm dance, earning a season-best score of 81.57 points to secure the top position. They were closely followed by Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri from Italy. Alex and Maia Shibutani from the United States, making a comeback after a seven-year hiatus, finished in sixth place.
The pairs event saw 2022 Olympic champions Wenjing Sui and Cong Han from China leading after the short program. Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii from Italy secured the second spot, with Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko finishing third. Sui and Han delivered a strong performance to “Habanera,” achieving a new season’s best score of 74.63 points.
The ISU Grand Prix Series, comprising six international events in a cumulative point-scoring format, allows each athlete or team to earn points 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.
