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 Nathan Chen gave a fine performance to La Boheme in the Men's Short Program © International Skating Union

World Champion Nathan Chen (USA) shone on home ice to top the Men’s Short Program at Skate America on Friday, as Russia’s Dmitri Aliev edged out Canadian Keegan Messing to claim second place.

Performing to 'La Boheme', Chen wobbled on his opening quadruple Lutz but went on to hit a triple Axel and quadruple-triple toeloop combination. The change camel spin and step sequence merited a level four and Chen picked up 102.71 points.

“This is my first time performing the Short Program in a competitive setting. I’m not entirely happy with exactly how the program went. However, it’s the first outing and I’m pretty OK with it,” the 20-year-old said.

“I’m looking forward to competing tomorrow, hopefully clean up some of the mistakes I made today and just keep going for it.”

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Dmitri Aliev came second in the Men's Short Program scoring 96.57 points © International Skating Union

 Aliev’s program to 'Je Dors Sur Des Roses' from 'Mozart L’Opera Rock' featured a quadruple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, a somewhat shaky quadruple toeloop, a triple Axel and three level-four elements. The 2018 European silver medalist scored 96.57 points.

“Overall I’m pretty pleased with the job I did today. I made a little error on the quadruple toeloop on the spin, and probably this affected my score, but overall I’m very satisfied,” the 20-year-old said.

Messing opened his program to 'Perfect' by Ed Sheeran with a quadruple-triple toeloop combination and followed up with a triple Axel and triple Lutz to earn 96.34 points, which was a season’s best. 

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Canada's Keegan Messing competed for the first time since the tragic death of his brother © International Skating Union

“This was the first time I actually got to perform my Short Program in front of my wife who it is actually made for. This program was the same music that my wife and I danced to on our very first dance, so for her to be here to see it was very special to me,” he said.

“All the elements seemed pretty solid today. I was just really happy to be able to come here and skate. Coming here this week was a huge decision for me with everything that’s happened,” Messing added, in reference to the tragic death of his younger brother in a traffic accident last month.

Jason Brown (USA) singled his Axel and ranks fourth at 83.45 points. ISU Grand Prix Finalist Michal Brezina (CZE) came fifth (81.11 points) followed by 2016 European silver medalist Alexei Bychenko (ISR) on 79.76 points.

For full entry lists and further information regarding the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series please visit: https://isu.org/GrandPrix. Follow the discussion on social media by using #FigureSkating #GPFigure.

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