Powered by quad Axel, Ilia Malinin wins Grand Prix of Espoo from Sato Shun
Despite putting a hand down on his third quad Axel in competition, the American secured his second series win with Sato joining him in the Grand Prix Final as Kevin Aymoz took third.
Figure Skating
Ilia Malinin landed a quad Axel in competition for the third time as he took victory at the Grand Prix of Espoo in Finland on Saturday (26 November).
Skating to the soundtrack of 'Euphoria' by Labrinth, Malinin had a hand down on his unique jump before hitting his first competitive quad flip.
There followed a quad toeloop, a quad Salchow and a quad toeloop-Euler-triple Salchow. While some of his later jumps were not quite on point, the sheer technical difficulty of his early elements saw him take a comfortable win.
He earned 192.82 for the free skate which gave him a total of 278.39 and a second ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating victory after his emergence at Skate America.
Former Junior Grand Prix winner Sato Shun punched the air with delight after a superb free skate which earned him the top-two place he needed to reach the Grand Prix Final.
The Japanese, who was third in the MK John Wilson Trophy, earlier this month, landed three quad jumps and two triple Axels as he set a new personal best score of 180.62 for second place overall on 262.21.
Kevin Aymoz led after the short program but was always likely to lose that advantage as he is not yet attempting quad jumps following his return from a succession of injuries.
He showed his trademark creativity and artistry in a vibrant skate to the 'Gladiator' soundtrack, and his score of 166.73 was good enough for third on the day, and third overall with a total of 255.69.
It was the Frenchman's first Grand Prix podium finish since 2019/20.
Tatsuya Tsuboi had the skate of his life in Espoo, opening with a clean quad Salchow and barely putting a foot wrong after that.
He was rewarded with a big personal best score of 166.08 for a total of 244.90 and fourth place.
USA's Camden Pulkinen was more like his normal self on Saturday, posting a season's best of 157.47 to improve to fifth from seventh overnight.
Keegan Messing fell heavily on his opening quad toeloop, but the Canadian showed his competitive spirit by trying it again moments later and nailing it.
The two-time Olympian suffered another bad fall on a triple Axel later on, but he kept fighting and smiling with the crowd cheering their appreciation.
He scored 124.90 for a total of 205.02 and eighth place overall.
Georgia's Morisi Kvitelashvili put together a better skate than Friday's disappointing short program, but failed to move up from his 12th place.
Grand Prix of Espoo men's short program results:
1. Ilia Malinin (USA) 278.39
2. Sato Shun (JPN) 262.21
3. Kevin Aymoz (FRA) 255.69
4. Tsuboi Tatsuya (JPN) 244.90
5. Camden Pulkinen (USA) 229.92
6. Nikolaj Majorov (SWE) 209.55
7. Arlet Levandi (EST) 209.50
8. Keegan Messing (CAN) 205.02
9. Valtter Virtanen (FIN) 204.02
10. Aleksandr Selevko (EST) 199.47
11. Honda Lucas Tsuyoshi (JPN) 197.90
12. Morisi Kvitelashvili (GEO) 62.42
ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating men's finalists:
Uno Shoma (JPN)
Ilia Malinin (USA)
Miura Kao (JPN)
Yamamoto Sota (JPN)
Daniel Grassl (ITA)
Sato Shun (JPN)