Olympic figure skating champion Mikhail Shaidorov opened his campaign at the International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix stage in China, the website infohub.kz reports. The men's singles skaters performed their short programs in Shenzhen on Friday, with the 22-year-old Kazakhstani skating last.
The athlete stumbled on the landing of a quadruple Lutz but then cleanly landed a triple Axel and a quadruple-triple toe loop combination. Shaidorov scored 94.87 points for the skate, finishing fifth and earning a place in the final warm-up group for the free program.
Japan's Kao Miura leads at the halfway point with 102.90. His compatriot Shun Sato (101.97) is right behind him. Russians Evgeni Semenenko (99.72) and Vladislav Dikidzhi (98.86), competing under a neutral status, took third and fourth places.
The free programs begin on November 8 at 10:00 Kazakhstan time. In each of the past three seasons Shaidorov has reached the podium in China — one silver and two bronzes. Earlier in the current Grand Prix series he competed in Angers, France, where he finished tenth.
In the women's singles in Shenzhen, Japan's Mone Chiba leads at the halfway point with 76.08. Georgia's Anastasiia Gubanova (75.05) is second, and Russia's Alexandra Ignatova (72.37), also known under the surname Trusova, is third.
In the rhythm dance, Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson posted the best score (80.00). Georgia's Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin (79.31) follow, with Czechs Natalie Taschlerova and Filip Taschler (73.10) completing the top three.
In the pairs short program, Russians Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov (74.69) took first place. Georgia's Anastasia Metelkina and Luka Berulava (67.06) finished second, and Armenia's Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin (66.34) were third.