Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto dominated the short program on Friday, putting herself in prime position to defend her title at what she says will be her final NHK Trophy.
Sakamoto said in June she will retire from competition after next year’s Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Skating to “Time to Say Goodbye,” Sakamoto landed a triple lutz, a double axel and a triple flip-triple toe loop combination on her way to a season-best score of 77.05, almost 10 points ahead of Sofia Samodelkina of Kazakhstan who was second with 67.75.
South Korea’s You Young was third with 67.66.
After winning three consecutive world championships through 2024, Sakamoto finished second at this year’s worlds in Boston in March.
The 25-year-old won the women’s singles bronze medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
Sakamoto finished second behind 17-year-old compatriot Ami Nakai at the season-opening Grand Prix de France last month and came to her home Grand Prix aiming to regain her dominance.
“I was a little nervous since arriving here but was able to put that behind me and skate a solid program,” Sakamoto said. “I completed all my jumps successfully and will look to continue that in the free skate tomorrow.”
Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto takes an early lead at the NHK Trophy with a score of 77.065 in the women’s short program in Osaka, Japan.
Japan’s best hope for a medal at the Olympics, Sakamoto will have to contend with Russian figure skater Adeliia Petrosian in Italy. The 17-year-old Petrosian has won two straight national titles and is unbeaten over the past two seasons, winning eight straight domestic events.
She qualified for the Olympics by winning the gold medal at the ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating qualifier in Beijing in September.
The 2024 European Champion Loena Hendrickx returned to the Grand Prix series after sitting out the past season due to injury.
Hendrickx landed her first two jumps but fell on her third, a triple flip, and finished in fourth place with 62.45 points. Hendrickx qualified for the Olympics by finishing third at the ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating qualifier.
Kagiyama leads after men’s short program
Local favorite Yuma Kagiyama was first after the men’s short program.
The 2022 Olympic silver medalist landed a quad lutz at the start of his routine and added a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination before finishing with a triple axel for 98.58 points.
“I was pleased with all of my jumps, putting everything into them I was able to complete them successfully,” Kagiyama said. “But the mistakes on the spins and step are very regrettable.”
Kagiyama’s compatriot Shun Sato was second with 96.67 points followed by South Korea’s Cha Jun-hwan with 91.60.
Yuma Kagiyama of Japan lands in first in the men’s competition at the NHK Trophy in Osaka, Japan, with a score of 98.58.
Fear and Gibson top after rhythm dance
In ice dance, world bronze medalists Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain received a season-best score of 81.57 points and were first after the rhythm dance followed by Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy.
Alex and Maia Shibutani of the United States, who are making a comeback after a seven-year absence, were sixth.
In pairs, 2022 Olympic champions Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China were first after the short program. Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy were second while Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko finished third.
Sui and Han delivered a strong short program to “Habanera” that featured a triple toe, triple twist and big throw triple flip. The two-time ISU World Champions set a new season’s best of 74.63 to take the lead.
“For me this is only the beginning,” Han said. “This is our second Grand Prix but we still feel it is new and fresh. We are just getting back to compete and we have a lot of work to do.”
The ISU Grand Prix Series consists of six international events in a cumulative point-scoring format.
Each athlete or team is eligible to score points in up to two of the six scheduled events. The top six point-earners in each discipline qualify for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final set for Dec. 4-7 in Nagoya, Japan.
Shibutani siblings address leaked video
Alex and Maia Shibutani say there are no hard feelings between them after a video of Alex berating his sister in practice was leaked on social media.
In the video that surfaced last month, Alex can be heard directing an expletive-laced rant at his younger sister.
The American siblings are competing at this weekend’s NHK Trophy in Osaka, the fourth round of the ISU’s Grand Prix Series. They placed sixth in Friday’s rhythm dance.
Alex also addressed the video, saying “I feel terrible about it.”
“Unfortunately, I lost my temper in training and it shouldn’t have happened,” he said. “I apologized to Maia right after our practice.”
Known as the “Shib Sibs,” the 2018 Winter Olympic bronze medalists are attempting a comeback after a break of seven years in the hopes of making the U.S. team for next year’s Milan-Cortina Games.
“The intensity of what we are trying to do and the standards that we have, the two of us, we both understand (the outburst) but it was wrong and I am committed to being a better teammate,” Alex said. “I’m so lucky to skate with Maia. We have a very unique, special relationship and we are committed to each other and to this process.”
Maia Shibutani also commented on the leaked video.
“When you are working toward being your best there are going to be intense moments, but for us we understand each other and the process and we work through it together like siblings do,” she said. “We continued practicing that day and we choose each other every time.”
Alex, 34, and Maia, 31, have skated together most of their lives, and for a long time were the dominant US ice dancers.
They are three-time world championship medalists and two-time Olympians, finishing ninth at the 2014 Olympics at Sochi and third at the 2018 Games at Pyeongchang, where they were also part of the U.S. squad that won a team bronze medal.
The Shibutani siblings took a break from elite-level skating after Pyeongchang to focus on school and other interests.
They extended their competitive hiatus when Maia was diagnosed with a malignant tumor on her kidney in 2019. She underwent surgery to remove the mass, and additional treatment resulted in a successful but long and painful recovery.
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