Helsinki –
Japanese figure skaters Yuma Kagiyama and Hana Yoshida led the Finland Grand Prix after convincing short program performances in Helsinki on Friday.
Kagiyama, the 2022 Olympic silver medalist and winner of the recent NHK Trophy in Tokyo, scored 103.97 points to edge ahead of compatriot Kazuki Tomono (90.78 points).
„Today I was little worried about my tiredness, as it was a very short time between the competitions,“ said Kagiyama after skating to „Sound of Silence.“
„However, I gave a performance today and I will try to do the same tomorrow. There are so many talented skaters here and they motivated to me to do well.“
Ahead of Saturday’s free skate, he added: „I made a mistake at the NHK Trophy on the quad flip, so tomorrow I’ll try to do better.“
France’s Kevin Aymoz, second at Skate America last month, was third with 85.13 points.
Hana Yoshida of Japan competes during the women’s short program of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Helsinki on Friday. | Lehtikuva / via AFP-JIJI
In the women’s event, Yoshida, who finished third at Skate Canada in October, led the way with 67.87 points.
„I could have done better with all my jumps, but I am happy and I am excited for tomorrow,“ said Yoshida after recording her season-best score.
„I know that I will be nervous tomorrow too, but I will just concentrate on myself and I want to stay calm and just enjoy.“
Italy’s Lara Naki Gutmann (67.06) and Sarah Everhardt of the United States (66.28) filled out the top three.
World champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada took the lead in the pairs event ahead of Italy’s Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini, with Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko of Hungary taking third place.