Favorites Yuzuru Hanyu and Anna Pogorilaya lead NHK Trophy, the sixth and last Grand Prix Final qualifier, but the intrigue lies lower in the standings.
The Olympic champion Hanyu put up the first 100-point short program of anyone this season, tallying 103.89 in Sapporo, Japan. Hanyu, who broke the world record for the first of two times last season at NHK, performed two quadruple jumps Friday but stepped out of the landing on one of them.
He leads 17-year-old American Nathan Chen by a whopping 15.95 points going into Saturday’s free skate (full NHK standings here).