Confident Kagiyama skates to comfortable lead at French Grand Prix; Boikova/ Kozlovskii ahead in pairs

Eighteen-year-old Kagiyama Yuma is proving a fast learner.

The Youth Olympics Lausanne 2020 champion and reigning world silver medallist vowed to take lessons from his seventh-place finish in the short program two weeks ago at the Gran Premio d'Italia figure skating event.

On Friday (19 November), he showed he had done just that, registering a triple-digit score with a 100.64 at the Internationaux de France in Grenoble, leading at the halfway point among the men, with Latvia's Deniss Vasiljevs and USA's Jason Brown sitting in second and third with 89.76 and 89.39, respectively.

The Internationaux de France is the fifth of six scheduled International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix events, with Rostelecom Cup in Sochi, Russia, set to conclude the Series next weekend (26-27 Nov.).

Kagiyama's personal best in the short was a 100.96 at worlds earlier this year, and should he turn in a free program akin to his 197.49 from Torino two weeks ago, he could come close to breaking the 300-point mark for the first time in his career.

The Japanese teen is looking for his debut appearance at the senior level at next month's Grand Prix Final in Osaka, where the Grand Prix's top six skaters and teams from each discipline will compete.

Kagiyama hit a quadruple Salchow-triple toe loop combination to open his short, set to "When You're Smiling", then a quad toe and then held on to his triple Axel landing in a program that grew in its impression as it went along.

In pairs, Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii, the world bronze medallists in Stockholm earlier this year, lead fellow Russians Iuliia Artemeva and Mikhail Nazarychev. More on that below.

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Kagiyama: 'Today I came in wondering'

In Torino for Gran Premio d'Italia (5 November), Kagiyama didn't complete a combination in his short program, his 80.53 burying him in seventh. He'd roar back to win the free skate and the event overall, but the Japanese skater said he wanted to learn his lesson - especially in the Olympic season.

Discussing his struggle in the short program, Kagiyama said: "Today I came in wondering if I was going to have another disappointment, but in practice and the six-minute warmup I felt my body was good and this gave me confidence that I was going to be able to do well today."

Having won in Torino, the Grand Prix Final now seems well within reach.

"[The] Final is my ultimate goal, but if I think about it, I will get nervous. So I will just focus on my [free skate]," he added.

Only three men didn't attempt quad jumps in their short, but that strategy continues to pay off for Brown - and it did on Friday for Vasiljevs, too, the 22-year-old Latvian coached by Torino 2006 silver medallist Stephane Lambiel.

Brown needed a hand down to save his triple Axel landing in his "Sinnerman" short, a program held over from last season. He scored a 94.00 in the short at Skate Canada, where he finished second overall.

The American was self-critical of the small things he could have done better, too.

"There were things I loved about the program, I loved the fight, that I stayed in it the whole time," shared Brown in pres. "That being said, I'm always going after as much GOE (Grade of Execution) points as I can get, and I had a few little errors during the program, so that part of it I'm not so pleased with."

Messing 6th; More frustrations for Aymoz

While Kagiyama, Vasiljevs and Brown are 1-2-3, it was another Japanese teen in Sato Shun who was fourth (87.82), while Russia's Dmitri Aliev is fifth (85.05).

Less than five points separate Brown, in second, with France's Adam Siao Him Fa in seventh (84.47). It was a disappointing day for Canada's Keegan Messing, who was called for a quarter-turn on his quad toe, then could only get off a triple-triple combination instead of his planned quad-triple.

He's sixth with a 85.03.

While Siao Him Fa led the home charge, a season of frustrations continue for Kevin Aymoz, the 2019 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist. A groin injury kept him off the ice for three months this summer, and following a poor short program at Skate America in October he withdrew, revealing a new injury, his toe. He's in 12th of 12 skaters.

He would go no better in front of his hometown crowd, popping his opening quad attempt and then falling hard on an attempted quad Salchow. He's now in a race against time to try and be 100 percent as Romain Ponsart (10th) is also factored into the race for the two French men's spots for Beijing 2022.

Asked about how he would move forward this season, Aymoz replied simply: "I don't know."

Pairs: World bronze medallists Boikova / Kozlovskii lead in Russian 1-2

The Tamara Moskvina-trained Boikova and Kozlovskii, who finished third at the season-opening Grand Prix at Skate America, are well-placed to claim victory on Saturday after a short program that, while perhaps below their expectations, still proved to be the best of the field.

Boikova had to turn out of the pair's opening triple Salchow, but a splendid triple twist lift and a clean throw jump – a triple flip – set them up for a grandstand finish to their Swan Lake routine.

Their score of 77.17 was a season's best.

"We feel we did a good job in the time since our first Grand Prix, our program today looked whole and we were able to develop the character of the black swan in the program and we are happy the judges appreciated our performance," Kozlovskii said.

"This music is still a challenge for us. This program is a specific story, specific characters, that we have to bring across. The characters are more difficult to interpret and they are ambiguous. We are, with each competition, step by step, opening up and exploring these characters further.

Fellow Russians Artemeva and Nazarychev, in only their second senior Grand Prix – they won bronze two weeks ago at the Gran Premio d'Italia – also look set to claim another medal in their first senior season on the international stage.

They skated cleanly, albeit with a lower level on their triple twist lift, for a total of 73.02 – a clear personal best by nearly three points.

"We are pleased - we went up and did what we could do. There was good judging and great ice, so we are happy," Nazarychev reflected.

"[Italy] did not put any pressure on us, on the contrary, that motivated us, because the third place there gave us a chance to make it to Grand Prix Final and that would be really good in our first year at the senior level."

Canada's Vanessa James and Eric Radford are third on 71.84 points. The duo, who only paired up this season after each coming back from time away from skating, placed fourth on home ice at the Skate Canada International but could propel themselves into Olympic selection contention with a medal here this weekend.

"It's a learning experience for us - this is our fifth competition together as a team and I feel like the mileage and knowledge we're gaining from each competition is seeing us through," James said, before Radford added: "For me personally it was just a lovely moment to be back out there with Vanessa and feel that program and feel the music."