World champion Sakamoto Kaori vaults ahead at Grand Prix Final as Japanese teammates Miura/Kihara claim pairs title
It was a shining day for Team Japan in Turin, with Sakamoto leading the women and Mihara Mai in second. The pairs team and junior Shimada Mao won gold medals.
Figure Skating
Sakamoto Kaori is back to her best - for now.
The Olympic bronze medallist at Beijing 2022 and reiging world champion bounced back from a silver medal finish at NHK Trophy last month to lead after the women's short program on Friday (9 December) at the Grand Prix Final in Turin, Italy.
Sakamoto was crisp and confident in her Janet Jackson medley short, scoring a 75.86 to best countrywoman Mihara Mai at 74.58 and Loena Hendrickx of Belgium with a 74.24.
Mihara had been the only woman this season to win both of her Grand Prix assignments.
Held in the Torino Palavela - the site for figure skating at Torino 2006 - the Final is being staged for the first time since 2019 (when it was also held in the same location) after two years of pandemic-related shutdowns.
Another Japanese skater, Watanabe Rinka, landed the lone triple Axel in the women's event to place fourth in her Final debut, scoring a 72.58. The top four skaters are separated by just 2.28 points.
Said a smiling Sakamoto via an intepreter: "Above all, I'm relieved," adding, "I'm happy that I was able to land all my jumps, and [especially] my triple-triple combination."
In the pairs event, Miura Riku and Kihara Ryuichi captured Japan its first pair gold in Grand Prix Final history, holding off Americans Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, the reigning world champions.
The Japanese duo scored a 214.58 to Knierim/Frazier's 213.28, giving them Grand Prix Final gold after the U.S. team had beaten them at last year's World Championships for the title. The two teams have further potential meetings at Four Continents (February) and Worlds (March, in Japan) this season.
In the ice dance rhythm dance, Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier lead by just 0.43 points over Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S., 85.93 to 85.49.
Women: Tight race among top four
Kihira Rika was the last Japanese woman to win the Grand Prix Final, in 2018 in Vancouver.
The top four skaters - Sakamoto, Mihara, Hendrickx and Watanabe - are all in their 20s, a marked shift in the women's discipline that has been dominated by teens in the recent past.
Russia is still banned from skating events by the International Skating Union (ISU).
Skating fourth, Sakamoto shined from the start, hitting a double Axel and then triple Lutz before connecting on a triple flip-triple toe-loop combination in the second half of her program.
She and Hendrickx tied in Program Components (artistry) for the night with 35.49 points.
The top three are all so closely clumped together that Hendrickx, the Belgian, has her eye on gold: "Hopefully tomorrow I can show [the judges] that I really deserve it."
Said Mihara of skating last in the short: "When I saw that I was quite surprised and suddenly became quite nervous. ... I really tried to think and focus on how happy I am just to be here and also to skate in this event."
Watanabe, the surprise winner at Skate Canada, is making her debut on the Grand Prix this season. She was beaming after her personal best short program, though her triple Axel was called a quarter under-rotated.
"I'm pretty happy to land my triple Axel and get my personal best for the program," she said in English.
American Isabeau Levito is fifth with a 69.26, while Kim Yelim of the Republic of Korea sits sixth after she popped her Axel attempt, earning zero points for the element (61.55).
Pairs: Miura/Kihara win gold for Japan
Miura and Kihara were breakout stars last year, winning the world silver medal after a seventh-place finish at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. They joined forces in 2019 prior to the pandemic disruption.
After a shoulder injury to Miura impacted their training time coming into this season, they won gold at both the Canadian and Japanese Grand Prix stops. When their scores flashed on screen they let out a burst of emotion, both skaters tearing up.
"Today's performance was not perfect, but we're really happy to win our first Grand Prix Final," Kihara told the Turin crowd via an interpreter.
Added Miura in their press conference: "Thinking about the first half of the season, what was really good for us was that even if we made mistakes... we were able to maintain a smile and keep that going until the very end," she said. "We discovered that when we practised and practised - [and] through that we were able to gain confidence in our performance."
Miura/Kihara only made minor errors in their free skate, including a doubled jump on a planned triple by Miura, a near-fall from Kihara on the triple Salchow and two hands down to save their throw triple Lutz from Miura.
Knierim/Frazier had made mistakes, too, notably by Frazier on their side-by-side jumps, including a single toe-loop on the combo.
"I'm very proud of how we performed tonight, we fought very hard," Knierim said. "It was a tight competition in the short and free programs but that's what makes sport exciting."
Added Frazier: "We're looking forward to the second half of the season where we can start tapping into our best skating."
It was an emotional evening for Italy's Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii, who leaped from fourth to third with a 187.02, overtaking Canada's Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Descahmps, to win the bronze.
Ice dance rhythm dance: Gilles/ Poirier lead - barely
There is no clear-cut leader in the ice dance, though it is the 2021 world bronze medallists Gilles and Poirier who will skate last in the free dance after taking the lead on Friday.
It was the Program Component (artistry) score that pushed them ahead of three-time world medallists Chock and Bates, the Canadians notching a 37.54.
Like in the other three disciplines, ice dance is guaranteed a first-time Grand Prix Final winner this year.
Home hopes Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy are third with a 84.55.
"We're trying to take things not as seriously as last year and I think that's really helping us," Gilles explained. "When we go to skate, we're doing exactly what we do at home; it's precise, it's enjoyable, it's fun and it's no different."
"We had a challenging start to our Grand Prix [season]," said Bates, a nod to the team's silver-medal finish at NHK Trophy. "But that made us take a total evaluation of ourselves and our skating... I think we've evolved quite a bit."
He added: "We're going for that top spot on the podium."