Uno edges out Hanyu for fourth consecutive national title

By Paula Slater
Photo © Getty Images
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Published: December 22, 2019

2019-20 Japanese Figure Skating Championships

Men’s Free Skate

Shoma Uno surprised in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday, edging out favorite Yuzuru Hanyu to reclaim his fourth consecutive national title. Yuma Kagiyama soared from seventh to claim the bronze in his second appearance on the senior level.

Performing to “Our Life,” “Dancing on My Own” and “Your Last Kiss,” Uno landed a quad flip, quad toe, triple Axel, and quad toe-double toe. The only mistake came when he put a hand down and turned out the landing of a triple loop and singled a flip on the back end of a triple Axel-Euler combination. The Olympic silver medalist was also awarded level 4 for all spins and footwork and scored 184.86 for the free skate for a total score of 290.57.

Hanyu finished third in his “Origin” free skate with 172.05 points. The two-time Olympic champion stepped out of his opening quad loop, as well as a quad toe and the back end of a quad toe-Euler-triple flip. He also turned out a double Lutz and underrotated and fell on a triple Axel, managed a solid quad Salchow and showed excellent level 4 spins and footwork. He received the highest program component score of the event and finished second overall with a total score of 282.77.

Kagiyama surprised with his routine to music from the Tucker soundtrack, producing a quad toe-double toe, quad toe and a total of six clean triple jumps—including two triple Axels. The only mistakes came when he turned out the landing of a triple loop and received an edge call on a triple Lutz. The junior national champ also received level 4 for all spins and finished second in the free skate with 180.58. With a total score of 257.99, he rose to third overall.

Keiji Tanaka placed fifth in the free skate and maintained fourth overall (252.44). His free skate to Sherlock Holmes featured a quad Salchow and quad toe-double toe. His only mistakes came when he put a hand and foot down on a triple Axel-Euler-triple Salchow.

Shun Sato, who stood in third after the short program, finished sixth in the free skate (163.82) and fifth overall (246.50). The 2019-20 Junior Grand Prix Final champion fell on his opening quad Lutz, however, the rest of his “Romeo and Juliet” routine was clean and featured a quad toe-double toe, quad toe, and six solid triple jumps—including two triple Axels.

Kazuki Tomono finished sixth overall (244.69), followed by Sota Yamamoto (220.49) and 8 Mitsuki Sumoto (220.28).

In his final appearance as a single’s skater, 33-year-old Daisuke Takahashi finished 12th (204.31).

Selections were made as follows for the upcoming ISU Championships events:

Four Continents: Hanyu, Kagiyama, and Uno
Worlds: Hanyu, Tanaka and Uno
Junior Worlds: Kagiyama and Sato

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Free Dance

Misato Komatsubara and Tim Koleto won their second consecutive title in the Ice Dance event. Rikako Fukase and Oliver Zhang maintained second place overall for the silver, while Kiria Hirayama and Kenta Ishibashi edged out Yuka Edamura and Daiki Shimazaki for the bronze.

Komatsubara and Koleto will represent Japan at both the Four Continents and Worlds, while Utana Yoshida and Shingo Nishiyama will compete at Junior Worlds.

2019-20 Japanese Nationals Daisuke Takahashi Featured Keiji Tanaka Misato Komatsubara and Tim Koleto Shoma Uno Shun Sato Yuma Kagiyama Yuzuru Hanyu

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The “Charlotte” is named after German figure skater Charlotte Oelschlägel (August 14, 1898 – November 14, 1984) who first performed the move in the early 1900s. She retired in 1976 and was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1985. She is also credited with performing the first backward outside death spiral.