{"id":1232,"date":"2024-12-20T18:29:54","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T15:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vsaworld.com\/blog\/?p=1232"},"modified":"2024-12-20T18:29:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T15:29:54","slug":"kagiyama-and-sakamoto-lead-japan-at-national-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vsaworld.com\/blog\/kagiyama-and-sakamoto-lead-japan-at-national-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"Kagiyama and Sakamoto Lead Japan at National Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/english.kyodonews.net\/news\/2024\/12\/8398b8ba597b-update1-figure-skating-kagiyama-sakamoto-take-early-leads-at-japan-natls.html#google_vignette\">Yuma Kagiyama<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/english.kyodonews.net\/news\/2024\/12\/8398b8ba597b-update1-figure-skating-kagiyama-sakamoto-take-early-leads-at-japan-natls.html#google_vignette\">Kaori Sakamoto<\/a>, two of Japan&#8217;s brightest figure skating stars, took command on the opening day of the Japanese National Figure Skating Championships. Kagiyama, the Beijing Olympics silver medalist, led the men&#8217;s field with a strong short program performance, scoring 92.05 points. Rio Nakata and Kazuki Tomono followed closely behind. Notably, Nobunari Oda, a veteran skater competing in his final season, placed fifth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the women&#8217;s competition, reigning champion Kaori Sakamoto showcased her dominance with a score of 78.92 points. 16-year-old Mao Shimada, a rising star, secured second place, while Mone Chiba rounded out the top three. The fierce competition among these talented skaters promises an exciting conclusion to the championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The national championships hold immense significance as they determine Japan&#8217;s representatives for the upcoming World Figure Skating Championships in Boston. The top three men and women will earn the coveted spots on the national team, giving them a chance to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The competition continues with the men&#8217;s free skate on Saturday, followed by the women&#8217;s free skate on Sunday. The eyes of the figure skating world will be on Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture, as these talented athletes strive for victory and a place on the world stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00a0By Vitalina Andrushchenko, Staff Writer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yuma Kagiyama and Kaori Sakamoto, two of Japan&#8217;s brightest figure skating stars, took command on the opening day of the Japanese National Figure Skating Championships. Kagiyama, the Beijing Olympics silver medalist, led the men&#8217;s field with a strong short program performance, scoring 92.05 points. Rio Nakata and Kazuki Tomono followed closely behind. Notably, Nobunari Oda, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kagiyama and Sakamoto Lead Japan at National Championships - VSA Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vsaworld.com\/blog\/kagiyama-and-sakamoto-lead-japan-at-national-championships\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kagiyama and Sakamoto Lead Japan at National Championships - VSA Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yuma Kagiyama and Kaori Sakamoto, two of Japan&#8217;s brightest figure skating stars, took command on the opening day of the Japanese National Figure Skating Championships. 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