2022 Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan took the next step in his comeback this season by taking the Men’s Short Program with a new season’s best score.
Shun Sato made it a one-two for the Japanese men by coming second, and Korea’s 2023 World silver medalist Junhwan Cha showed much improvement to place third. The top three men all chalked up season’s best scores.
Kagiyama had drawn to skate last and put in an excellent performance of his program to “Believer” by Imagine Dragons. The two-time ISU World silver medalist opened with an effortless looking quad Salchow and followed up with a quad toe-triple toe and a triple Axel. He collected a level four for the steps and footwork to post a season’s best of 106.82 points.
Yuma Kagiyama (JPN), last to skate, posted a season's best of 106.82 points to win the Men's Short Program. © Annice Lyn
“I missed the quad Salchow in the short program at Nationals and I felt some pressure about it,” Kagiyama told the press.
“But my father [also his coach] told me to be confident about it and so I was and I am satisfied with what I did.”
“Last time I was at the Four Continents I was still in juniors and it was my first major senior event. I hope to continue to grow.”
Sato’s characteristic Tango program included a quad toe-triple toe combination, a quad Lutz, triple Axel and difficult spins and steps. The 2023 ISU Four Continents bronze medalist took a big step towards another podium position and improved his personal best by about eight points with his score of 99.20.
Shun Sato (JPN) improved his personal best by eight points as he attempts to better last year's Four Continents bronze. © ISU
“Before the short program I made up my mind to be definitely in the top three,” Sato revealed.
“I worked a lot towards this competition on the choreography and on the components and I am happy to have achieved my goal.
“For this Four Continents I worked harder than last year. The color of the medal is important but what is more important that I get to enjoy the competition.”
Skating to “Waltz Masquerade”, Cha hit a quad Salchow, a rarely seen triple Lutz-triple loop combination and a triple Axel to score 95.30 points.
Junhwan Cha (KOR) bounced back from a disappointing Skate Canada with a season's best to lie third. © Annice Lyn
“First of all it was a kind of come back from Skate Canada,” Cha said referring to his sub-par start of the season.
“It was a hard time. I couldn’t train properly and the way I wanted. I need more time to recover. There are still a lot of things to improve and I can more improve other stuff for the World Championships.
“Medals and results are important but for me this time I just want to enjoy my skating and do my best.”
2023 Grand Prix Skate Canada Champion Sota Yamamoto (JPN) remains in medal contention in fourth place at 94.44 points. Two-time ISU World bronze medalist Boyang Jin (CHN) put out another clean program to finish fifth on 89.41 points. Wesley Chiu (CAN) came sixth at 83.50 points.
Schedule of the event
The schedule of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships is as follows:
Thursday, February 1: Women’s, Men’s & Pairs Short Programs
Friday, February 2: Rhythm Dance & Women’s Free Skating
Saturday, February 3: Pairs & Men’s Free Skating
Sunday, February 4: Free Dance & Exhibition Gala
For full entries and results, please see the ISU event page and the official website. Follow the discussion on social media using #4ContsFigure and #FigureSkating.
Where to watch the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2023:
The ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships will be live streamed on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. Geo-restrictions will apply in markets where TV rights are in place. You will find the full list in the Where to Watch news here.
Subscribe to the Skating ISU YouTube Channel to receive alerts when the live streams start and when new videos are posted.
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