Yuzuru Hanyu 1st, Satoko Miyahara 2nd, Shoma Uno 3rd at Grand Prix Final

From December 10 – 13, this year’s Grand Prix Final took place in Barcelona, Spain. Japan sent 5 skaters to this competition. Japanese skaters won 1 gold medal, 1 silver medal, and 1 bronze medal at the event.

Yuzuru Hanyu won the men’s portion of the Grand Prix Final with a total score of 330.43, beating the combined score world record of 322.40 he set 2 weeks ago at NHK Trophy. Yuzuru’s short program was given a score of 110.95, the best of the night. This short program score beat the world record of 106.33, which he also set at this year’s NHK Trophy. “I’m satisfied with the program. I’m surprised too,” he said after the program. “I don’t care about the score alone, but this huge score makes me happy at the same time,” Yuzuru added. “I was so nervous but I was using that nervousness in a positive way. I am a little bit upset about my step sequence, though.”

The following day, Yuzuru had the best score of the free skate and set another world record. His free skate received a score of 219.48, besting the world record score of 216.07 he set at NHK Trophy 2 weeks ago. “I always want to perform my best and be No. 1,” he said afterwards. “I was putting pressure on myself from the world record at NHK, but during the free program I was released from the pressure. I thought I could do what I could, and I ended up performing quite well.” He continued, “I am feeling really good today, because everyone was supporting me. I owe my performance to the audience.”

Shoma Uno came in third place with a total score of 276.79, behind Javier Fernandez of Spain’s score of 292.95. His short program received a score of 86.47, putting him in fourth place behind Javier and Boyang Jin of China, respectively. Shoma fell on his quad toe. His free skate was the fourth best of the night, receiving a score of 190.32, placing him behind Javier and Patrick Chan of Canada.

Daisuke Murakami came in sixth place with a total score of 235.49. His short program received a score of 83.47, putting him in fifth place. He had a hand down on his triple lutz, and the following triple loop in the combination was doubled. Daisuke’s free skate was the lowest scored of the night, receiving a score of 152.02. He underrotated his opening quad salchow and stepped out on the landing. He fell on his second quad salchow, and didn’t do the second jump of the combination. He then stepped out on his triple axel, and didn’t do the second jump of that combination. Later, he doubled the last jump of his triple lutz-half loop-triple salchow combination.

Satoko Miyahara came in second place with a total score of 208.85, behind Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia’s score of 222.54. Her short program received a score of 68.76. Her free skate was the second best of the night, receiving a score of 140.09, behind Evgenia’s score of 147.96.

Mao Asada came in sixth place with a total score of 194.32. Her short program received a score of 69.13, putting her in third place behind Russian Elena Radionova’s score of 69.43. Mao singled her triple lutz. “I made a major mistake today and I regret that,” she said. “But overall it wasn’t bad so I’m hoping to do better tomorrow,” she added. “This is my comeback season. My triple axel is going well but my lutz is still not so consistent yet when I get nervous and that is my weak point.” Mao’s free skate was the lowest scored of the night, receiving a score of 125.19. She stepped out on her triple axel. Mao then doubled the first jump of her triple flip-triple loop combination, and didn’t do the second jump. “I’m very disappointed I couldn’t perform the way I wanted to,” she said afterward. “I had a lot of mistakes, I have to change my mindset, refocus and do better at the next competition.”

The next competition is the Japanese National Championships, which will take place in Hokkaido on December 24 – 27. This event will decide who goes to Four Continents Championships in Taipei, Taiwan in February and the World Championships in Boston, Massachusetts the following month.

Yuzuru Hanyu

Short program