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Figure skating: Kaori Sakamoto leads the Japanese podium at Skate Canada
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Figure skating: Kaori Sakamoto leads the Japanese podium at Skate Canada

HALIFAX, Canada (Kyodo) — Three-time reigning world champion Kaori Sakamoto earned her seventh career Grand Prix victory as Japanese figure skaters swept the podium at Skate Canada International on Saturday.

Sakamoto, 24, scored 126.24 points in the free skate to bring his total to 201.21 points, 9.05 ahead of runner-up Rino Matsuike, who had the highest free skate score of 139.85 after s being ranked 10th in the short program.

Hana Yoshida completed the podium with a total of 191.37 in Halifax, Canada.

“It was good to win, but my performance is regrettable,” said Sakamoto, a bronze medalist at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. “I was shaky during training, and that resulted in my performance I will try to use this frustration as fuel to do better next time.

Sakamoto will then compete in the NHK Trophy starting November 8 in Tokyo.

Switzerland’s Kimmy Repond (191.07) finished fourth and Canada’s Madeline Schizas (190.04) fifth.

Skaters receive points based on their placement in their two assigned events, and the top six in each of the four divisions advance to the Grand Prix Final in early December in Grenoble, France.