MAEBASHI, GUNMA PREF. ¨C Mitsuki Sumoto grabbed the lead after the men¡¯s short program at the Japan Junior Championships on Saturday with a score of 67.34 points.
Last year¡¯s junior bronze medalist stepped out on his opening triple axel to ¡°Singin¡¯ in the Rain,¡± but landed his triple lutz/triple toe loop combination jump and a triple flip and heads into Sunday¡¯s free skate on top.
Sumoto, a 16-year-old from Osaka, is the only Japanese man to qualify for next month¡¯s Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya. He won the Riga JGP earlier this season.
Sena Miyake is in second place with 66.09, while Kazuki Hasegawa is third on 64.18.
¡°My score was better than I thought,¡± stated Sumoto. ¡°This was the first time this season I was able to land the combination. It was better than at the Western Japan Regionals in Fukuoka.¡±
Sumoto says reviewing his past performances has made a difference.
¡°I have been studying myself on video and have improved,¡± Sumoto commented. ¡°I will do my best tomorrow in the free skate to win the gold medal.¡±
Mako Yamashita put on a fantastic skate to ¡°Bohemian Rhapsody¡± as the final skater of the evening and leads the women¡¯s competition with 65.13.
Yamashita, who has two medals on the JGP circuit this season, began with a triple flip/triple toe loop combo, before landing a triple lutz and a double axel.
Nana Araki is second with 61.51, while Tomoe Kawabata, a 15-year-old from Tokyo, was the surprise of the day and is third on 61.49.
Looking sharp in a white outfit, Kawabata was the second skater of 30 but put up a number that remained atop the leaderboard until nearly the very end.
Riko Takino put forth a solid effort and is fifth with 58.87.
Takino, who was sixth in this event last season, opened with a nice triple flip/triple toe loop combo and went on to land a triple lutz and double axel.
Heavy favorite Rika Kihira botched the back end of her triple flip/triple toe loop combo and is in sixth place with 57.89.
¡°I was careless today,¡± Kihira said. ¡°My motivation is usually good for competitions, but today it wasn¡¯t there. My six-minute warmup was not good.¡±
Kihira is the only Japanese woman to clinch a spot in the JGP Final this campaign.
The women¡¯s free skate is set for Sunday evening.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.