KAORI SAKAMOTO won the qualification for the Beijing Olympic Winter Games after taking her second title at Japan’s national figure skating championships at the Super Arena in Japan on Saturday.

The 21-year-old, who led the short program Thursday, scored 154.83 points for her free routine for a winning total of 234.06.

It is her second national crown following the victory at the end of 2018. Sakamoto is expected to improve on her sixth finish at the PyongChang Olympics in 2018.

Wakaba Higuchi was second on 221.78 points and Mana Kawabe claimed the third place on 209.65.

The winner of the tournament qualifies for the Beijing Olympics and the other two places will be decided by the results of this season’s Grand Prix and the national championships, and each skater’s rankings.

Japan can send three skaters to Beijing in each singles’ event. All the qualifiers will be announced after the tournament has completed Sunday.

In another development, two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu scored a world-leading 111.31 points in his first competition in eight months at Japan’s national figure skating championships Friday.

Hanyu, 27, who has been out of competition due to a right ankle injury, proved he is still the man to watch at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games next February.

His nearly flawless performance in the short program earned him 111.31 points, surpassing world champion Nathan Chen’s season best mark of 106.72 recorded in the Canada Grand Prix in October.

Shoma Uno, who was beaten by Hanyu to second place in the Pyeongchang Olympics, was second with 101.88 points and Yuma Kagiyama, who won the NHK Trophy last month, stayed third on with 95.15.

When asked about his chance of winning the Olympic gold medal for the third time, he said that he will try to make the quadruple axel successful in Sunday’s free skate.

“I will do it step by step in tomorrow’s practice first and then in the free skate,” he said. “I will take my chances and get focused. I will be very careful to avoid being injured. After that, I believe that I will try to win again in Beijing.”

(Xinhua)