Yuzuru Hanyu tops 300 points to win NHK Trophy

SAPPORO, Japan – Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu topped the 300-point mark to win the NHK Trophy on Saturday and qualify for the figure skating Grand Prix Final.

Hanyu landed three quadruple jumps to finish with 301.47 points, the highest score on the GP circuit this season.

Hanyu, who was second behind Patrick Chan at Skate Canada last month, secured a berth at the Dec. 8-11 Grand Prix Final next month in Marseille, France.

“I’m actually very relieved that I can advance to the Grand Prix Final,” Hanyu said. “I was able to land the (quad) loop cleanly for the first time in a competition.”

Nathan Chen of the United States finished second with 268.91 points and also advanced. Keiji Tanaka was third at 248.44.

Russia’s Anna Pogorilaya won the women’s singles, with Satoko Miyahara taking second place. Pogorilaya’s compatriot Maria Sotskova came in third.

Pogorilaya retained her lead from the short program and clinched a spot in the final with a solid free skate. Her winning total was 210.86.

The victory was the second on the GP tour this season for Pogorilaya. She also won the Cup of Russia in early November.

“I believe that overall I skated very well today,” Pogorilaya said. “I made some small mistakes. I’m generally very happy.”

Pogorilaya did receive an edge call on her second jump, a triple flip, but still won in decisive fashion.

“The calls on edges have become much stricter since last year,” Pogorilaya said. “I have talked to my coach about this and we are focusing on it.”

Two-time world champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada won the pairs event.

Duhamel and Radford, who were in second place after Friday’s short program, finished with a combined total of 205.56 points to add to their win at Skate Canada.

“As with the short program, there were some strong elements and some unfortunate mistakes,” Radford said. “My body got tight and tired at the end of the program and I just had a slight problem with that last lift.”

Peng Cheng and Yang Jin of China were second with 196.87 points, and Wang Xuehan and Wang Lei, also of China, were third with 185.32.

Peng and Yang also qualified for the GP Final with their second-placed finish.

The other pairs to qualify for the final are: Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany; Xiaoyu Yu and Hao Zhang of China;

Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of Russia; and Julianne Seguin and Charlie Bilodeau of Canada.

The NHK Trophy is the sixth and final event in the International Skating Union’s Grand Prix series.

Other Grand Prix Final qualifiers:

Women – Evgenia Medvedeva, Elena Radionova, Sotskova, Pogorilaya, Russia; Kaetlyn Osmond, Canada; Miyahara, Japan.

Men – Javier Fernandez, Spain; Chan, Canada; Shoma Uno, Hanyu, Japan; Nathan Chen, Adam Rippon, United States.