TOKYO — In a remarkable display at the NHK Trophy, reigning champion Yuma Kagiyama led a flawless performance, topping the men’s figure skating short program. Skating to “The Sound of Silence,” Kagiyama opened with an impressive quadruple salchow followed by a quad toeloop-triple toeloop combination, demonstrating his technical prowess. The 2022 Olympic silver medalist elevated his routine with a triple axel, finishing with a season-high score of 105.70 points.

Expressing his satisfaction, Kagiyama noted, “I aimed to match my Olympic score but fell just three points short. Today’s performance was executed exactly as I envisioned from start to finish.” Following him was Kao Miura, who achieved a personal-best of 102.96 points, with Tatsuya Tsuboi securing third place for Japan with a score of 85.02. Kagiyama praised his fellow competitors, stating, “All three of us delivered what was needed today. Tatsuya showcased wonderful flow, and Kao brought real momentum, which pushed me to perform well.” Andrew Torgashev from the United States finished in fourth with 84.36 points.

In the women’s category, three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto also led her group by scoring a season-best of 78.93 points. Coming off a gold medal win at Skate Canada just a fortnight ago, Sakamoto began her performance with a double axel and successfully landed a triple lutz along with a triple flip-triple toeloop combination. “I was extremely pleased with my lutz, which received high marks,” she commented. “I managed to maintain my focus throughout the performance.” Just like in the men’s competition, the top three spots in the women’s event were clinched by Japanese skaters, with Mone Chiba taking second at 71.69 points, followed by Yuna Aoki with 69.78. Alysa Liu of the United States, who is making a competitive return, placed fourth with a score of 65.03.

In ice dance, U.S. champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates took the lead after the short program with a score of 86.32 points. After finishing second at Skate America, the duo achieved level fours and threes across their elements. Bates remarked, “We’ve made significant progress since Skate America, particularly with this program, which involved considerable effort in enhancing the music and choreography, even while in the midst of the Grand Prix.” Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko from the U.S. followed in second with 79.64 points, while Lithuania’s Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius were third, scoring 77.91 points.

In pairs, the duo of Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara from Japan led with 71.90 points while skating to “Paint it Black.” Though they executed a triple twist and throw triple lutz, Miura’s landing on the triple toe was downgraded due to a forward fall. “We encountered a mistake that we were able to recover from, which was positive for us,” Miura shared. “We made a change in our choreographer and felt the need to introduce something fresh.” Second place went to Georgia’s Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava with 70.28 points, and the U.S. pairing of Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea rounded out the top three at 69.15 points.

The NHK Trophy represents the fourth competition in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. A total of 60 athletes and teams from 16 nations are competing across men’s, women’s, pairs, and ice dance events. The series will continue with the next event scheduled for November 15-17 at the Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki, Finland.