Kagiyama wins NHK Trophy despite early slip

Japan's Yuma Kagiyama won the NHK Trophy men's title on Saturday, putting an early fall behind him to take gold in his first Grand Prix appearance of the figure skating season.

Kaori Sakamoto made it a double for the home country in the women's competition in Tokyo, cruising to her second Grand Prix victory of the season.

Kagiyama finished on 300.09 points overall, ahead of runner-up Daniel Grassl of Italy on 264.85 and third-place Tatsuya Tsuboi of Japan on 251.52.

Japan's Kao Miura, who was second after Friday's short programme with a personal-best score, imploded in the free skate and finished sixth overall.

Kagiyama, who won silver at the 2022 Winter Olympics, fell on his opening quadruple flip but regrouped to clinch victory in front of a delighted home crowd.

"Of course it's frustrating to make a mistake, but I think the way I recovered shows how much I wanted it and how much I've grown," said the 21-year-old.

"If I make a mistake when I'm practicing, I keep going. I'm aiming to reach the Grand Prix final so I can't give up.

"I felt that strongly inside me."

Kagiyama's next Grand Prix assignment is the Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki next week.

He is aiming for a place at December's Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, where he will renew his budding rivalry with American Ilia Malinin if he qualifies.

"I was a little too fired up for the free skate and that threw me off a little," said Kagiyama.

"I have to make sure in Finland that I'm calm before the short programme and free skate."

- Sakamoto cruises -

Miura went into the free skate on a high after his short programme success but a disastrous performance put him out of the medals entirely.

He fell twice to place second-bottom in the free skate, and was inconsolable after his performance.

"It was a big competition and I wanted a good result," said Miura, who finished third at Skate America but is now out of the running for the Grand Prix Final.

"I couldn't make any kind of a mark. It was completely meaningless. I just have to get back into training."

Sakamoto gave another commanding performance to take the women's title.

The three-time world champion won with 231.88 points -- the world's best score this season -- and led a Japanese podium sweep with Mone Chiba second on 212.54 and Yuna Aoki third on 195.07.

"I was a bit calmer in my routine today than yesterday, and I was able to complete each element better," said Sakamoto, who punched the air and collapsed to the ice at the end of her routine.

"I'm happy with my performance today."

Sakamoto also won at Skate Canada and she now heads to Grenoble in search of a second straight Grand Prix Final win.

"I'm not thinking about retaining the title, I'm just thinking about giving the best performance I can," she said.

In the pairs competition, Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava jumped from second to take gold ahead of Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara and Americans Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea.

Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates won the ice dance competition, with compatriots Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko coming second and Lithuania's Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius third.

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