by Laurie Nealin
Agence France Presse
REGINA, Canada (AFP) — Shoma Uno and Kaetlyn Osmond topped the men’s and women’s fields on Friday with superb short programs that brought the audience to its feet at Skate Canada International.
Uno, the reigning world silver medallist from Japan, opened with a picture-perfect quadruple flip in his mesmerizing short program set to Winter from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
A quad toe-double toe and masterful triple Axel followed, earning Uno 103.62 points and the lead at the second of six stops in the ISU figure skating Grand Prix circuit.
“The moment I finished skating, nothing came into my head,” Uno said. “I probably was really focused. I can’t remember anything. Even now as I sit here, my heart is racing, so I think I was really, really focused.”
Canadian star Patrick Chan eked out the landing of two jumps, and with just one quadruple jump to his credit finished nine points adrift on 94.43.
American Jason Brown was third on 90.71 going into Saturday’s free skate.
Osmond reprised last season’s acclaimed short program set to Edith Piaf vocals for her Olympic campaign.
Skating last in the talent-laden, 12-woman field, the Canadian soared through her triple flip-triple toe combo, then ticked off each additional element with panache and pizazz.
With a score of 76.06, the reigning world silver medallist is atop the leader board, seven points clear of the field.
“I felt super confident when I stepped on the ice,” Osmond said.
“This program is so fun — the last bit when everyone starts clapping is the celebration of the short. It’s really exciting to do that footwork sequence when I have the crowd’s reaction.”
Russian Anna Pogorilaya, the 2016 world bronze medallist, and her countrywoman Maria Sotskova claimed second and third on 69.05 and 66.10 points, respectively.
Pogorilaya, looking to rebound after slumping to 13th with a disastrous showing at last season’s worlds, was pleased with her performance overall.
“I had to overcome a lot of things. I had to work a lot on myself. No one said life was easy, but you just have to get up and move on,” the Russian said.
Advance co-favourite Ashley Wagner, of the United States was back in seventh place after errors on two jumps.
To no one’s surprise, triple world champs Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are poised to win their seventh Skate Canada ice dance title after earning a record high score of 82.68 for their Latin-themed short dance.
Skating to music by The Rolling Stones, The Eagles and Santana, Canada’s 2010 Olympic champions enjoyed a standing ovation for their unconventional samba, rhumba, cha-cha medley.
Fellow Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje are second on 77.47, less than two points ahead of Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue, of the United States.
In pairs, German duo Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot lead with 77.34.
Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford (73.53) and France’s Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres (73.04) sit second and third.
Medals will be decided with free skates in all competitions on Saturday.
© Agence France-Presse