Yuma Kagiyama Defends Title at NHK Trophy and Kaori Sakamoto Leads Japanese Sweep in Women’s Event

AP

11:08 JST, November 10, 2024

TOKYO (AP) — Yuma Kagiyama of Japan recovered from an early fall in his free skate on Saturday to defend his title at the NHK Trophy.

The 2022 Olympic silver medalist fell on his opening quadruple flip but quickly recovered with a clean quad salchow and a quad toeloop-triple toeloop combination.

First after the short program, Kagiyama added another quad toeloop and three triple jumps to finish with 194.39 points for a total of 300.09.

Italy’s Daniel Grassl moved up from fifth place with a strong free skate to finish second with 264.85 points while Japan’s Tatsuya Tsuboi was third with 251.52 points.

“It was regrettable to fall on the opening jump but I was quickly able to recover and that’s a testament to my growth,” said Kagiyama, who will next compete in the Nov. 15-17 Finlandia Trophy.

Andrew Torgashev of the United States was fourth with 246.58 points.

In the women’s event, three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto led a Japanese sweep of the podium with an electrifying performance in the free skate.

Skating to “All That Jazz,” Sakamoto landed seven triple jumps en route to a season-best 152.95 points for a total of 231.88.

Mone Chiba was second with 212.54 followed by compatriot Yuna Aoki with 195.07.

American teenager Alysa Liu, who is making a comeback, was fourth with 190.75 points.

Sakamoto also won Skate Canada two weeks ago but was second in the free skate.

“It’s been two weeks since Skate Canada and I didn’t think I would be able to do this much (in the free skate),” Sakamoto said. “I was so nervous the last time in Canada and wanted to be able to relax more this time.”

Two-time and reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States turned in a dominant free dance to win the ice dance competition.

First after Friday’s rhythm dance, the U.S. champions executed level-four spins and lifts on their way to 129.63 points for a total of 215.95.

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, also of the United States, were second with 198.97 points while Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius of Lithuania took third with 195.52.

With their first NHK Trophy title, Chock and Bates also secured a berth in the Grand Prix Final which will be held Dec. 5-8 in Grenoble, France.

After finishing second at Skate America, Chock and Bates decided to revamp their short program and the move paid off as they started Saturday’s free dance with a comfortable 6.68-point lead.

Skating to “Round Midnight” and “Take Five,” the Americans opened with a level-four rotational lift and closed with a curve lift and a difficult stationary lift.

“We were really pleased with the performance today,” Bates said. “It felt really smooth, we really tried to get into the mood of the very sultry jazz-forward program.”

Caroline Green and Michael Parsons of the U.S. finished fourth with 188.76. points.

In pairs, Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia finished first in the free skate to overtake Japanese skaters Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara with 213.05 points.

Miura and Kihara, first after the short program, settled for second place with 209.45 points while Ellie Kim and Danny O’Shea of the U.S. were third with 197.44.

The NHK Trophy is the fourth event in the ISU’s Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series.