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MILAN – The world champion pair Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara led their short program, as did the former women’s singles world champion Kaori Sakamoto, temporarily placing Japan in second position on Friday during the qualification round of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympic figure skating team event.

Japan, which earned a silver medal in Beijing four years prior, accumulated 23 points, placing them two points behind the leader and reigning champion, the United States, at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, while the host nation Italy came in third with 22 points.

The men’s singles short program on Saturday will decide which five out of the ten participating countries qualify for the final.

Miura and Kihara set a new personal best in their short program with 82.84 points, earning Japan 10 team points following the ice dance pair Utana Yoshida and Masaya Morita’s eighth-place finish in their rhythm dance.

“We concentrated on every single moment and did our utmost. This is something we can use as a foundation for our individual short program,” Miura said.

I wasn’t extremely anxious, but I felt nervous in a positive manner…I was calm enough to take in my surroundings. We entered it in a very good mindset.

Kihara, whose spins and dance moves aligned perfectly with Miura, contributed to their impressive program components score, and he mentioned feeling at ease despite the significant event.

We remained composed as a team and handled every aspect with calm,” he said. “This is my fourth Olympics, and I don’t notice any difference in the atmosphere compared to our regular competitions.

Sakamoto, who is retiring at the end of the season, delivered an outstanding performance with a score of 78.88, surpassing the reigning American world champion Alysa Liu’s 74.90.

Today, I feel more relieved, as it was the first day of a team competition and I truly wanted to begin strongly,” Sakamoto said following her perfect performance. “I’m very pleased.

I was truly delighted after we unexpectedly secured a medal in Beijing, and we’ve been discussing the team event ever since. I can sense that we’re drawing nearer to our goal from the past four years, and I feel both happy and proud.