Kagiyama Defends Title at NHK Trophy

Yuma Kagiyama of Japan successfully defended his NHK Trophy title despite a shaky start to his free skate. After a fall on his opening quadruple flip, Kagiyama recovered impressively, landing a clean quad salchow and a quad toeloop-triple toeloop combination. His strong performance, combined with a solid short program, earned him a total score of 300.09 points.

Italy’s Daniel Grassl and Japan’s Tatsuya Tsuboi claimed the second and third spots, respectively. Andrew Torgashev of the United States finished fourth. Kagiyama will next compete at the Finlandia Trophy, aiming to continue his strong form.

Japanese Dominance in Women’s Event

Kaori Sakamoto, the three-time world champion, led a Japanese sweep of the women’s podium at the NHK Trophy. Skating to “All That Jazz,” Sakamoto delivered a stunning performance, landing seven triple jumps and earning a season-best score of 152.95 points. Her total score of 231.88 secured her the top spot.

Mone Chiba and Yuna Aoki finished second and third, respectively, while American teenager Alysa Liu placed fourth. Sakamoto’s victory at the NHK Trophy follows her win at Skate Canada two weeks prior.

By Vitalina Andrushchenko, Staff Writer