Kaori Sakamoto leads Japanese short program blitz

Two- time protecting females’s globe champ Kaori Sakamoto led a Japanese wave in Friday’s ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating short programs regardless of handling a foot injury.

Sakamoto and Rion Sumiyoshi ended up one-two, specifically, in the females’s opening up round, while Japanese compatriots Kao Miura took the leading place amongst the males with Shun Sato 2nd at Finland’s Grand Prix Espoo, the fifth of 6 fulfills on the circuit prior to December’s Grand Prix last in Beijing.

Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto executes in the females’s short program at the Grand Prix Espoo number skating competitors in Espoo, Finland, onNov 17, 2023. (International Skating Union/Getty/Kyodo)

Sakamoto, that won her very first Grand Prix occasion this year, Skate Canada International, racked up 69.69 factors, well off her job ideal short program rating of 80.32, as she remained to take care of discomfort in her appropriate foot …