Figure skating GP Final opens as Japanese star sets personal best

The 2025 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final opened here on Thursday, with home skater Yuma Kagiyama setting a personal best score to lead the men's short program with 108.77 points, reported Xinhua.

In the men's short program, Kagiyama combined solid technical content with strong artistry to better his previous personal best of 108.12 set at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. His compatriot Shun Sato scored 98.06 points to place second. Defending champion Ilia Malinin of the United States placed third with 94.05 points.

"It is the first time since the Beijing Winter Olympics that I have been able to renew my personal best in the short program," Kagiyama said afterward. "I am satisfied with my jumps and spins, but there is still room to improve the overall quality of the program, and I hope to do better in the free skate."

In the pairs short program, two-time world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara took the lead with 77.32 points. Italy's Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii sit a close second, only 0.10 points behind, while Georgia's Anastasia Metelkina and Luka Berulava lie third with 75.04 points.

In the ice dance rhythm dance, three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States topped the standings with 88.74 points. France's duo of Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron sit second with 87.56 points, with Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier in third.

Three Chinese pairs took part in the junior pairs short program. Guo Rui and Zhang Yiwen, and Zhang Xuanqi and Feng Wenqiang scored 63.84 and 62.89 points respectively to rank first and second, while Canada's Eva Kemp and Yohnatan Yelizharov are third with 62.82 points. China's Chen Yuxuan and Dong Yinbo sit fourth with 55.63 points.

"Our throw jump was actually quite good today. Maybe we were a bit tight, but the transitions between the elements were much better than before," said Zhang Yiwen after the competition.