Kevin Aymoz leads Ilia Malinin after Grand Prix of Espoo short
Frenchman backs up Warsaw Challenger victory with short program lead in Finland with Sato Shun third.
Figure Skating
Kevin Aymoz leads after the men's short program at the Grand Prix of Espoo in Finland on Friday (25 November).
The Frenchman is on the way back after injury and beat MK John Wilson Trophy winner Daniel Grassl to take last weekend's ISU Challenger Warsaw Cup.
Aymoz did not have any quad jumps in his short program but landed a triple Axel, a triple flip-toeloop combination and a triple Lutz in a typically artistic and crowd-pleasing skate to 'Still Don't Know My Name' and 'Nate Growing Up' by Labrinth and Timothy Lee McKenzie.
It earned him a score of 88.96 which was good enough to top the scoreboard at the final round of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating regular season.
All eyes are on Ilia Malinin after his breakout victory at Skate America where he landed a quad Axel for the second time in competition.
Skating to Garou's 'I Put A Spell On You', Malinin - who turns 18 next week - landed a quad toeloop-triple toeloop combination and a quad Salchow but had a hand down on his triple Axel.
With the promise of that quad Axel to come in the free skate, Malinin looks in good shape to secure his place in next month's Grand Prix Final after scoring 85.57 to end the day in second compared to fourth after the short program at Skate America.
Sato Shun cut his hand on an edge and, despite an under-rotation and fall on a quad Lutz, ended the day in third on 81.59.
The former Junior Grand Prix Final winner needs a top-two finish if he is to reach the Grand Prix Final after his third in the MK John Wilson Trophy.
Two-time Olympian Keegan Messing was his usual entertaining self, but the Canadian's jumping was below his best although he did post a season's best 80.12.in his last Grand Prix event before retirement for fourth place.
USA's Camden Pulkinen lost valuable points when he popped a triple Axel, and his score of 72.45 saw him end the day in seventh place.
Morisi Kvitelashvili had a day to forget as his jumping let him down badly. The Georgian scored 62.42 for 12th place overnight.
Grand Prix of Espoo men's short program results:
1. Kevin Aymoz (FRA) 88.96
2. Ilia Malinin (USA) 85.57
3. Sato Shun (JPN) 81.59
4. Keegan Messing (CAN) 80.12
5. Tsuboi Tatsuya (JPN) 78.82
6. Arlet Levandi (EST) 72.67
7. Camden Pulkinen (USA) 72.45
8. Nikolaj Majorov (SWE) 69.94
9. Valtter Virtanen (FIN) 69.15
10. Honda Lucas Tsuyoshi (JPN) 67.92
11. Aleksandr Selevko (EST) 66.96
12. Morisi Kvitelashvili (GEO) 62.42