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Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) 'show their personalities and smile' to win a second Grand Prix Pairs gold. © ISU

2022 ISU World silver medalists Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara of Japan cruised to the second ISU Grand Prix gold medal of their careers in style with a strong performance on home ice in Sapporo on Saturday. Emily Chan/Spencer Akira Howe (USA) picked up the silver, like they had at Skate Canada International, while Canadians Brooke McIntosh/Benjamin Mimar claimed the bronze, their first ISU Grand Prix medal at senior level.

Skating to “Atlas: Two” by Sleeping At Last and “Shared Tenderness” by Karl Hugo, Miura/Kihara turned in a solid performance that included a triple twist, triple toe-double toe-double toe combination and throw triple loop. The only glitches came when Miura underrotated the triple Salchow and touched down on the throw triple Lutz. She laughed and shook her hands, knowing the routine was still enough for gold.

“More than skating perfectly we want to show our personalities and smile,” Miura explained. “We were able to completely finish the performance within the allocated time and felt good about that. After the throws jumps, we made a mistake in the choreo lift for the first time and my reaction was like ‘oh, oh, I made a mistake’. We actually made many small mistakes – despite that, we got a personal best in the total score and we are very happy about that.”

The Skate Canada International Champions scored 137.19 points for a total of 216.16. With their two victories, the Japanese Champions qualified for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in December.

Second time lucky for “very happy” Japanese pair

“Actually, we had won a spot at the Grand Prix Final last year, but because of the Omicron variant [of Covid-19] it was cancelled, and we were very disappointed,” Kihara said. “We are very happy to go now and we found a lot of things that we will look to improve on.”

Chan/Howe’s program to songs from the movie “Ghost” featured a double Salchow-double Axel-double Axel sequence, a triple twist and throw triple Salchow. However, Chan doubled the toeloop and the throw triple loop was shaky. The 2022 ISU Four Continents silver medalists nevertheless set a personal best of 122.87 points for 187.49 overall.

“We are very happy with our skate,” Chan said. “We were coming into the Free Skate with the goal of giving all our love and going for everything. We are very happy to have a new personal best.”


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Silver medalists Emily Chan/Spencer Akira Howe (USA) set a new personal best in Saturday's Free Skate. © ISU

With two silver medals this season, Chan/Howe are now likely to join Miura/Kihara in the Final.

“We are very grateful if we go to the Grand Prix Final in our first year on the Grand Prix circuit,” Chan added. “We hope to take the short time to improve our technical (elements) and fix the small technical errors so that we can increase our score.”

McIntosh/Mimar produced a triple twist, triple toe-double toe, double Salchow and throw triple Salchow in their routine to “Les Miserables”, but McIntosh hit the ice on the throw triple loop. The 2022 ISU World Junior bronze medalists scored 113.34 points for 175.65 overall.

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Brooke McIntosh/Benjamin Mimar (CAN) skated to "Les Miserables" but were anything but after their first Grand Prix medal. © ISU

“We are very happy about our first Grand Prix medal, and I am proud of my partner,” Mimar said. “Even with fall she fought to the end.” McIntosh assured reporters that she was checked by the doctor and was okay.

Irma Caldara/Riccardo Maglio (ITA) finished fourth on 164.23 points while Grand Prix de France silver medalists Camille Kovalev/Pavel Kovalev (FRA) remained in fifth at 162.01 points.

Overview of the competitors

Women’s Category:

Reigning ISU World Champion Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) is the hot favorite, but she has to watch out for teammate Rinka Watanabe who came out of nowhere to beat her earlier this season at the ISU Challenger event Lombardia Trophy. Both women won their first ISU Grand Prix and aim at making the Final. Grand

Schedule of the event

The schedule is as follows:


Friday, November 18:              Pairs & Women’s Short Programs, Rhythm Dance, Men’s Short Program
Saturday, November 19:         Pairs & Women’s Free Skating, Free Dance, Men’s Free Skating
Sunday, November 20:            Exhibition Gala

 

The NHK Trophy in Sapporo (JPN) November 18-20, 2022, is the fifth of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series.

More than 150 Skaters/Couples representing 29 ISU Members have been invited to the Series. The maximum number of entries for each event is 12 Ladies, 12 Men, 8 Pairs and 10 Ice Dance couples.

The General Announcement of the 2022/23 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series is available here. The individual announcements are published under the respective events. Full entry lists and further information are available on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series page.

Selection Criteria

In order for a Skater/Couple to be eligible to compete at an ISU Grand Prix event, a minimum total score must have been achieved in the 2021/22 or current 2022/23 season in an ISU event (Grand Prix, Junior Grand Prix, Championships) or a Challenger Series event. Exceptions apply to host country Skaters, previously ranked Skaters or split ranked Couples who return with new partners. The minimum total score is 3/5 of highest score per discipline at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2022 and are as follows: Women: 141.65, Men: 187.49, Pairs: 132.65, Ice Dance: 137.89.

Following the IOC recommendation and in order to protect the integrity of ice skating competitions and for the safety of all the participants of international ice skating competitions, the ISU Council based on Article 17.1.q)i) of the ISU Constitution, agreed that with immediate effect and until further notice, no Skaters belonging to the ISU Members in Russia (Russian Skating Union and the Figure Skating Federation of Russia) and Belarus (Skating Union of Belarus) shall be invited or allowed to participate in International ice skating competitions including ISU Championships and other ISU Events. The same applies to Officials listed in the respective ISU Communications and/or Regulations under Russia and Belarus (see ISU Communication 2469).

 

Grand Prix Standings

Men                  Women             Ice Dance         Pair Skating

 

Where to Watch

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events will be live streamed on the official ISU YouTube Channel in most countries. Find out where to watch the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating competitions.

Subscribe to the ISU YouTube Channel to receive all the latest videos and follow the conversation with #GPFigure.

 

ISU Grand Prix Schedule

The schedules of each ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events are available below:

21 - 23 Oct, 2022          Skate America, Norwood (USA)

28 – 30 Oct, 2022          Skate Canada International, Mississauga (CAN)

04 - 06 Nov, 2022         Grand Prix de France, Angers (FRA)

11 - 13 Nov, 2022          MK John Wilson Trophy, Sheffield (GBR)

18 - 20 Nov, 2022          NHK Trophy, Sapporo (JPN)

25 - 27 Nov, 2022          Grand Prix Espoo, Espoo (FIN)

08 - 11 Dec, 2022          Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Torino (ITA)

 

About ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating

The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series started in 1995 (previously known a s the ISU Champions Series) and consists of six invitational international senior events and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. The top six of the past World Championships are seeded. Competitors collect points in their Grand Prix events towards the qualification for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. Only the top six Skaters / Couples in each discipline can qualify for the Final.