2025 NHK Trophy Pairs’ Podium (From L to R): Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN), Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii (ITA) and Wenjing Sui and Cong Han (CHN).
2025 NHK Trophy: Pairs Figure Skating
Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy moved up from second to first place overall to claim their second Grand Prix gold in Osaka on Saturday. Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko of Hungary also moved up a spot to earn the silver, while China’s Wenjing Sui and Cong Han slipped to third for the bronze.
Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii
The two-time World bronze medalists put out a dramatic routine to “El Toro Salvaje” and “Concerto de España,” improving their season’s best with a score of 73.69 for second place. Conti put a hand down on the throw triple loop, but that was the only mistake. Their routine also featured a level-four triple twist, footwork, death spiral and spin. The side-by-side triple Salchows were also clean.
Macii said they felt nearly the same as Sui and Han in that they didn’t do very good nor very bad.
“We missed a little bit more of our emotions and energy,” he said. “I did a very bad spin actually, so we hope tomorrow we can show who we are and all the work that we have done till now.”
Conti added that they had done a lot of work since Cup of China where they won the silver, training in Japan for the past two weeks.
“Today I really enjoyed every part of the program even if it’s not the best program that we did,” she said. “I’m happy to really be focused on the program, on the music, on the feeling with him and try to be focused on our eyes to create the story from the beginning to the end of the program.”
The two-time Grand Prix Final medalists opened their free skate with a level-four triple twist, a side-by-side triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence, and triple Salchows. However, Conti fell on the throw triple loop and put a hand down on the throw triple Salchow. The team also lost a level on a group 5 reverse lift, as well as the death spiral, but the pair spin was graded a level four. Nevertheless, they placed first (134.89) with their moving routine to “Caruso” and “Occhi Verdi,” and maintained first place overall with 208.58 points.
“It was a very big competition, like tension was so high today,” noted Conti. “I feel it in all the elements, but I’m happy because every element was a very good fight. Of course, it was not the best program that we did, but we can work more and do our best in the next competition.”
With this win, the team has qualified for the Grand Prix Final next month.
“We’re going to probably focus more on the lifts, like a lot of the lifts,” said Macii of their preparation for the event. “I’m really happy about some elements during this program today that are going better and better, but we know that we need to get more speed at the end. More energy, and lifts, lifts, lifts! So, I will probably do the lifts while I’m cooking.”
Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko
The 2025 Grand Prix de France bronze medalists delivered an evocative short program to Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song,” highlighted by a confident level-four triple twist to start. The team then executed a clean throw triple flip followed by side-by-side triple toes. Although their lift received only a level three, their footwork sequence and pair spin earned level fours. They posted a new personal best of 73.04 points, placing them third heading into the free skate.
Pavlova said they were happy with the results, but noted they still had areas to improve on, noting the skating skills.
“I think we tried to focus less on the elements and more on the program,” she said. “Today was better, but we’re still not perfect. We’re working towards that goal, but the elements were the same (as in France). It didn’t improve or anything. Maybe the death spiral was even worse than in Grand Prix France, but it’s okay.”
The two-time Hungarian champs delivered a haunting routine to “Without You” to place second in the free skate and overall (134.24/207.28). Their program featured an excellent level-four triple twist, throw triple flip, triple Salchows, and throw triple loop. The only error came at the beginning of the program when Pavlova singled the last jump in the triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence. The pair spin was graded a level four, but the group 5 reverse and Axel lifts were graded a level three.
“We feel pretty happy,” said Pavlova of their performance. “It was a tough one, it was challenging, like every element was a fight, but overall, we did it. We did almost everything; only my Axel (singled), but it’s also much better than at the Grand Prix in France. I think we are working in the right direction and we just want to continue to improve on everything. But we are very happy with the results and our second place.”
The team currently sits in third place in the standings for the Grand Prix Final qualification.
Wenjing Sui and Cong Han
The 2022 Olympic gold champions delivered a solid short program to “Habanera,” opening with side-by-side triple toes. They went on to produce a level-four triple twist and throw triple flip. The lift was graded a level four, as was the spin, but they lost a level on the footwork which was graded a level three. Still, they scored a new season’s best of 74.63 for first place going into the free skate.
“I’m very happy that we can finish our short program. We did not too good, not too bad,” said Sui. “We still have some elements that we need to improve, and I hope tomorrow we can show our best performance for all the audience here.”
“For me, I think this is our beginning, actually,” Han added. “Even though this is our second Grand Prix, we still feel it’s very new and fresh. We’re just getting back for the competition. We still have a lot of work to do and need to improve. So, we can see the problems in this competition, we can work on that and prepare for the next competition.”
The 2025 Cup of China bronze medalists placed fourth in the free skate and slipped to third place overall (129.16/203.79) after making costly mistakes. Their routine to music from A Tapestry of a Legendary Land featured a good level-four throw triple twist and throw triple flip, and the group 5 Axel lift was graded a level four. However, Sui underrotated last jump in a triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence, while Han turned out his last jump. Han doubled the triple Salchows while Sui underrotated hers, and she also put a hand down on a throw triple Salchow. The group 5 reverse lift had a subpar takeoff and resulted in a level three as did the final lift.
“Personally, I feel it’s not really good today because the energy in the second part is still not enough in this short time,” explained Han. “But we are so happy to compete in Japan, and we feel we can come back, and we have a feeling how to compete in this competition. Maybe we need more time to prepare for the next competition, but we have time to fix the programs and practice more for my energy.”
Sui and Han currently sit in fourth place with 22 points in the Grand Prix standings with other top teams scheduled to compete at Skate Canada and Finlandia Trophy.
Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi
Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi of Japan placed fourth in the short program with a new personal best score of 71.52. Their routine to “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” was solid and featured a level three triple twist, side-by-side triple loops and a throw triple Salchow. The team also earned a level four on the footwork and spin, while the lift was graded a level three.
The 2025 CS Kinoshita Group Cup bronze medalists placed third in the free skate with a new personal best of 130.59 points. Their reverent routine to “Tree of Life” was highlighted by their solid side-by-side triple loop-double Axel-double Axel sequence. Nagaoka struggled on the throw jumps, putting a foot down on the throw triple loop and stepping out of the throw triple Salchow. She also doubled the triple Salchows, but the two lifts and the spin were graded a level four. They placed fourth overall with a total score of 202.11—also a personal best.
USA’s Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov and Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe placed fifth (193.00) and sixth (187.40), respectively.
Camille Kovalev and Pavel Kovalev of France withdrew from the event after Camille fell on the side-by-side triple toes, injuring her shoulder. It was later confirmed by coach Bruno Massot that it had been dislocated, however, there was not enough time to reset it in the three minutes allotted to return to the ice. While she didn’t go to hospital, she will be examined by her doctor when she returns home on Wednesday.
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