World champion Uno Shoma regains All-Japan crown
The double Olympic medallist wins his fifth national title with training partner Shimada Koshiro second and Tomono Kazuki third. Shimada, Tomono will have to wait and see if they join Uno in Japan's World Championship team.
Figure Skating
Uno Shoma claimed his fifth All-Japan Figure Skating Championships title in Osaka on Sunday (25 December).
The reigning world champion had won four consecutive national titles from 2016-19 before finishing second to Hanyu Yuzuru in the following two editions.
With the double Olympic gold medallist now out of competition, Uno returned to the top of the podium in commanding fashion to book his place at March's World Championships in Saitama.
Uno, who turned 25 last weekend, was not at his best in his free skate as he doubled what should have been a quad Salchow early on before falling on a quad flip.
But his high technical elements score give him a sizeable advantage over his rivals, and he comfortably won the free skate with a score of 191.28.
That gave him a winning total of 291.73 points as he kept up his perfect record this season after wins at Skate Canada, the NHK Trophy and Grand Prix Final.
"In both the short and free, I don’t think I was able to reflect what I was doing in practice but I still think I skated well here," Uno said.
"I messed up early in the free, but I thought the second half of my program was solid enough to make up for it. I didn’t fret and my performance is something I can build on."
Uno says skating as well as he can in Saitama is his priority over retaining his world title.
"I’m not sure what kind of condition everyone else is in but if I continue to improve at this rate, I have more than a good enough shot to win it," he said.
"As for repeating as champion... Of course I’ll do everything I can to win it but my goal is to perfect the craft, to be able to express what I want to express through figure skating."
Shimada Koshiro showed his second place in the short program was no fluke, landing two quads and two triple Axels, in an excellent free skate to music from Charlie Chaplin's City Lights.
Despite a single flip late on, the 21-year-old - who trains with Uno under Stephane Lambiel - posted a score of 164.84 for a total of 252.56, good for second place which could see him named in Japan's World Championships squad.
Only the winner is guaranteed a spot at the worlds with the other two berths announced later on Sunday.
Tomono Kazuki entertained with a crowd-pleasing routine to Strauss's Die Fledermaus Overture, but popped a quad toeloop and some iffy jumping cost him several points.
Despite that, his free skate score of 165.41 gave him a 250.84 total and third place.
Sato Shun bounced back well from a fall on his opening quad Lutz to put together a fine free skate, scoring 167.86 for a total of 249.64 which proved to be good enough for fourth.
Yamamoto Sota missed out on the podium after doubling what should have been his opening quad Salchow and falling on his next jump, a quad toeloop.
There were a couple of under-rotations after that with the Grand Prix Final runner-up finishing fifth on 245.41.
Kagiyama Yuma, in his first competition since taking silver at this year's world championships, fell on his opening quad Salchow in his free skate.
A left-ankle injury had previously kept him out of action this season, and it is clear that the 19-year-old is not yet fully recovered with his jumping well below his usual high standard.
The Beijing 2022 silver medallist finished eighth with a total of 237.83. Kagiyama said his priority is to regain full fitness and not on any particular competition.
"In the four minutes today, I was reminded of just how difficult your first competition after a layoff can be," he said. "I know what I need to do now after the two days I had here. I need to recover, heal the injury and take it from there.
"My ankle didn't bother me at all today. I begged to compete here but the result was far from satisfactory. It's frustrating and I feel bad for my who supports me.
"I don't regret entering the nationals. Next season, I have to be absolutely ready from the very first competition so I can keep up with everyone else."
All-Japan Figure Skating Championships men's singles results (top 10):
- Uno Shoma 291.73
- Shimada Koshiro 252.56
- Tomono Kazuki 250.84
- Sato Shun 249.64
- Yamamoto Sota 245.41
- Miura Kao 242.55
- Moriguchi Sumitada 241.63
- Kagiyama Yuma 237.83
- Tsuboi Tatsuya 221.17
- Yoshioka Nozomu 220.43