Regina / Canada

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World silver medalist Shoma Uno, of Japan, beat Canada’s three-time World Champion Patrick Chan for a clear lead in the Men’s Short Program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Skate Canada on Friday. Jason Brown (USA) is in third place.

Uno produced his trademark quadruple flip, a quadruple-double toeloop combination as well as a triple Axel and collected a level four for his three spins in his routine to ‘Winter’ from ‘The Four Seasons’ by Antonio Vivaldi. The 19-year-old took the lead with 103.62 points. “I am quite satisfied with how I skated today,” Uno said. “Ever since the six minutes warm up I was able to move very well, but at the same time I was able to control it and that led to my skate.”

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Even a missed flight and lost luggage didn’t sidetrack Chan. Skating to ‘Dust in the Wind’, the Canadian Champion hit a quadruple toe-triple toe combination, a triple Lutz and picked up a level four for his spins and a level three for his footwork. However, the 26-year-old touched down with his hand on the triple Axel. Chan, who won silver at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, earned 94.43 points. At least his luggage with his costume that was lost on the way to Regina arrived in time for the competition.

“This week has been a little crazy with trying to get organized and settled,” Chan said. “I actually didn’t really feel comfortable until the six minutes warm up today. I’m really happy with the performance, with the situation I’ve been given, first event of the year. I actually enjoyed it and it was nice to stay on my feet.”

Brown’s performance to the upbeat ‘The Room Where It Happens’, from the musical ‘Hamilton’, included a triple Axel, triple Lutz, triple flip-triple toe as well as difficult spins and footwork. The 2015 U.S. Champion picked up 90.71 points, a season’s best. “It was a lot of fun tonight,” Brown said. “My goal was definitely to get out there and to be as clean and precise as possible. A few things weren’t as clean as I would have liked them to be, but I’m super excited with the performance and to take this experience for the rest of the season.”

Alexander Samarin (RUS), the 2017 World Junior bronze medalist, landed a quadruple Lutz-triple toeloop combination and quadruple toeloop in his debut at the senior Grand Prix to place fourth on 84.02 points. Keegan Messing (CAN) follows in fifth (82.17 points) while Jorik Hendrickx (BEL) completes the top six (82.08 points).

Skate Canada International is the second of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. The top six skaters/couples in each discipline qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Nagoya (JPN) in December. The global prize money for the Grand Prix is US$272,000.

Full entry lists and results of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2017/18 are available here.  Follow the discussion on social media by using #GPFigure #FigureSkating