The NHK Cup of figure skating opened in Tokyo, and in the short program of the first half of the pair, the pair of Japanese players Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara marked 73.98, which is a personal best, and finished in 3rd place.
The 4th round of the Grand Prix series, the NHK Trophy for figure skating, began on the 12th at Yoyogi Daiichi Gymnasium in Tokyo.
In the short program of the first half of the first pair held on the 12th, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, who finished second on the podium for the first time as a pair of Japanese players at the American tournament of the Grand Prix series held last month, A pair of players participated.
The pair of Miura and Kihara was rated 3 at the beginning of the short program by a man throwing a woman up and spinning it, and then receiving it, "Twist Lift", which surpassed last month's American tournament.
After that, the two who showed stable performance such as getting the highest evaluation level 4 in spins and steps, marked 73.98, which is a personal best, and finished in 3rd place.
Russia's Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Galiamov pair topped with 78.40, while Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov paired second with 75.78.
Kihara, a pair who updated his personal best and finished in 3rd place, said, "I was in very good shape from the practice, so I wasn't particularly worried. It wasn't a perfect performance, but each one from the previous American tournament. I think the quality has definitely improved. "
In addition, Miura said with a smile, "It was very encouraging to hear the warm applause. The quality of each technique has improved year by year, so I think we are gradually stepping up."
For the free time in the second half, Kihara expressed his enthusiasm, saying, "I want to do what I couldn't do and beat ourselves in the previous tournament."
Miura said, "Today's movement was a little stiff, so tomorrow will be a little more fun and I think we can perform in our own way."