NAGOYA, Japan, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Two-time world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won the pairs title at the International Skating Union Grand Prix final in front of a home crowd on Friday, edging Italians Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii.
The Japanese duo, who top-scored in Thursday’s short program, made an early mistake in their free skate as Kihara momentarily slipped, but finished strongly to get a combined score of 225.21, with Conti and Macii 1.93 points behind.
Kihara was disappointed by Friday’s performance and had to be consoled by Miura. But he was surprised and visibly relieved when they won their first Grand Prix title in three years, with the second-best score in the free skate.
“I really want to thank everyone because without all of their support we would never have been able to finish skating until the very end,” Miura said.
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, winners of the last two Grand Prix finals and silver medallists at this year’s World Championships, placed fifth in the short program on Thursday.
But the German pair made a strong comeback, finishing with the highest score in the free skate, which earned them third overall with a total score of 221.25 points.
The men’s and women’s singles titles will be decided on Saturday.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)
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