Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara fly over the worlds short program

They made an almost perfect run earning 80.72 points, a record for the Japanese duo, recent winners of the Turin Grand Prix Final and the Four Continents Championship.

The world champions, Americans Alexa Knirim and Brandon Fraser (74.64 points), fell to second place, with a clear margin. They are followed by the Italians Sarah Conte and Nicolo Macchi (73.24 points).

We set ourselves the goal of reaching 80 points for the short program this season, so we’re really happy to be able to achieve that in the final competition. Kihara said.

A mistake in a routine jump cost Knierim and Frasier dearly.

This is the kind of error that doesn’t happen often, but sometimes when it does, it can get a little annoying.Brandon Fraser explained.

The American couple refuse to abdicate, but they’ll have to pull off a big performance Thursday in the free program.

everything is possibleAlexa Knierim reassured.

Canadian pair Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps finished the short program in fourth place with 72.81 points. Their compatriots Lea Pereira and Trinent Michaud (65.31 points) finished sixth.

A total of 23 couples participated in the short programme. Only the first 20 will be free software.

On the women’s side, Japan’s world champion Kaori Sakamoto scored 79.42 points and ranked first in the short program. She surpassed South Korean Lee Hae-In (73.62), the winner of the Four Continents Championship, and her compatriot Mai Mihara (73.46).

In front of her audience, the 22-year-old produced The Irreparable, bridging technical hardship with serenity and energy over headlines by Janet Jackson.

Sakamoto, the bronze medalist from the 2022 Winter Olympics, and the favorite of the competition in the absence of the Russian skaters, got 79.24 points, her best this season.

I was very calm today, able to skate like in practicesuspended. For the free program, I like to maintain that focus until the end and hopefully end up with a perfect performance.

Canadian Madeleine Chezas (60.02) ranked sixteenth.

The free program will take place on Friday.

On the recommendation of the IOC, the ISU would like to state that its Executive Board has decided to ban athletes from Russia and Belarus from competing until further notice.

The fall of the hero

Japanese world champion Shoma Uno was injured in training and injured his ankle.

One of his team members said this was detrimental to the defense of his title earned in 2022.

Shuma Uno

Photo: The Canadian Press/David J. Phillip

He thinks it’ll be fine, but we’ll see what happens on Thursdaysaid Yosuke Takeuchi, a member of the Japan Figure Skating Association.

The short program is scheduled for Thursday afternoons, while the free program will take place on Saturday.

The 25-year-old skater was already suffering from an ankle problem, we learned from the same source. After his fall, he had to shorten his sitting, and doctors examined his right ankle. But he was not taken to hospital.

Presented as one of the candidates, he admitted on Tuesday that he has doubts On his ability to fully defend his chances of retaining the title of world champion.

I feel like it won’t get better unless something big happens. I don’t know what to expect as it ishe explained, acknowledging the difficulties he was currently having with getting through his jumps.

If he loses or even gets demoted, it will be easy for Canadian Keegan Messing, the contender for the podium, as well as the American Ilya Malinin and the European champion, the Frenchman Adam Siao Hem Fa.