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German skaters lead Japanese at ISU Grand Prix final / Photo: OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE - AFP
German skaters lead Japanese at ISU Grand Prix final
German figure skaters Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin edged ahead of Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara after the pairs short programme at the ISU Grand Prix final on Thursday.
Former world champions Miura and Kihara, returning from injury, are just 0.45 points behind Hase and Volodin going into Friday's free skating final in south-eastern France.
The German pair, who took bronze behind the Japanese at the worlds last year, scored 76.72, for their performance to Tami Wilson's "You Were Mine".
Defending champions Miura and Kihara, world champions in 2023, achieved for 76.27 after their programme to the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black".
World champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada withdrew before the competition due to illness.
Georgian pair Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava are third with 72.26 on the opening day of the elite six-team competition.
Later Thursday, American Amber Glenn battles five Japanese skaters in the women's short programme.
Japan's Kaori Sakamoto, the three-time reigning world champion, is the favourite and unbeaten this season, but Glenn also won both her Grand Prix events in Angers, France and China this campaign.
M.Soler--HdM
