ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2023: Men's Short Program, Pairs Results
March 23, 2023
Reigning men's world figure skating champion Shoma Uno took first in the short program with 104.63 points to take the lead at the World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kiahara won the pairs competition for their first gold medal on the world stage.
They took second in the free skate on Thursday, but their first-place short program performance the day before helped catapult them to the top of the podium.
Here's a look at how the men's short and pairs free skate programs went down Thursday.
Men's Short Program Results
1. Shoma Uno (Japan): 104.63
2. Ilia Malinin (United States): 100.38
3. Junhwan Cha (South Korea): 99.64
4. Keegan Messing (Canada): 98.75
5. Kevin Aymoz (France): 95.56
6. Jason Brown (United States): 94.17
7. Kazuki Tomono (Japan): 92.68
8. Daniel Grassl (Italy): 86.50
9. Lukas Britschgi (Switzerland): 86.18
10. Vladimir Litvintsev (Azerbaijan): 82.71
Full results here via isuresults.com.
Pairs Results
1. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara (Japan): 222.16 (80.72 Short) + (141.44 Free Skate)
2. Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier (United States): 217.48 (74.64 Short) + (142.84 Free Skate)
3. Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii (Italy): 208.08 (73.24 Short + (134.84 Free Skate)
4. Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps (Canada): 199.97 (72.81 Short) + (127.16 Free Skate)
5. Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe (United States): 194.73 (70.23 Short) + (124.50 Free Skate)
6. Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud (Canada): 193.00 (65.31 Short) + (127.69 Free Skate)
7. Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko (Hungary): 190.67 (64.43 Short) + (126.24 Free Skate)
8. Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore (Australia): 189.47 (61.95 Short) + (127.52 Free Skate)
9. Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel (Germany): 184.60 (60.89 Short) + (123.71 Free Skate)
10. Alisa Efimova and Ruben Blommaert (Germany): 184.46 (65.23 Short) + (119.23 Free Skate)
Full results here via isuresults.com.
Men's Short Program
Uno holds the edge over a trio of skaters in the United States' Ilia Malinin, South Korea's Junhwan Cha and Canada's Keegan Messing, who are all within two points of each other for second.
Uno took center stage Thursday, however, as he finds himself in the driver's seat for back-to-back World Championship titles.
ISU Figure Skating @ISU_Figure📺 Shoma UNO (JPN) enchants the home crowd with a flawless performance and takes the lead after the Short Program at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldFigure?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldFigure</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FigureSkating?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FigureSkating</a> <a href="https://t.co/JjrT7UojZp">pic.twitter.com/JjrT7UojZp</a>
Jackie Wong of Rocker Skating provided more details of his program:
Uno spoke afterward, per Golden Skate:
Golden Skate @goldenskateShoma Uno 宇野 昌磨 🇯🇵 104.63<br>"It wasn't that bad. The triple toe turned into a double (laughs) and there were some mistakes on the steps. But I worked on this SP the whole year and I have no regrets. I was in a pretty bad shape the last ten days also because of the fall. With a… <a href="https://t.co/4ggl7OihQO">pic.twitter.com/4ggl7OihQO</a>
Uno has won silver (2018) and bronze (2022) Olympic medals in individual competitions as well as silver medals in the 2017 and 2018 World Championships.
The 18-year-old Malinin holds the edge for silver right now. He performed quite well on Thursday and was pleased with how his practice led to positive results.
ISU Figure Skating @ISU_FigureIlia Malinin 🇺🇸 struggled this season with his Short Program but not today in Saitama 🤩<br><br>The 2022 World Junior Champion set a new personal best with 100.38 points ✨<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldFigure?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldFigure</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FigureSkating?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FigureSkating</a> <a href="https://t.co/zWYlaNPAeM">pic.twitter.com/zWYlaNPAeM</a>
Golden Skate @goldenskateIlia Malinin 🇺🇸 100.38<br><br>"It means a lot to mean. I am very happy to be here and deliver. I am looking forward to the Free.<br>I am happy to be here performing to the Japanese audience. I hope I will have many more performances in Japan and can also go sightseeing here more!"… <a href="https://t.co/gRcS7dsBTd">pic.twitter.com/gRcS7dsBTd</a>
Malinin, who is the only skater to ever land a quadruple axel in competition, is coming off a gold medal in the 2022 World Junior Championships.
Pairs Results
Miura and Kiahara enjoyed a great 2022 season with bronze in the Olympics and silver at the World Championships. They're on top of the pairs skating world now after earning a gold medal with a sensational performance in Saitama.
ISU Figure Skating @ISU_Figure📝 Miura/Kihara claim first World Pairs title for Japan in Saitama<br><br>Read more 👉 <a href="https://t.co/9grRTxIqnZ">https://t.co/9grRTxIqnZ</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldFigure?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldFigure</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FigureSkating?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FigureSkating</a> <a href="https://t.co/QEezCLHHMF">pic.twitter.com/QEezCLHHMF</a>
This marked the first-ever world pairs title for Japan.
It wasn't a guarantee that the pair would win the gold after some tense moments in the free skate. Wong explained more.
Jackie Wong @rockerskatingRiku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara JPN<br>3Tw3?, sbs3T2T2A, sbs3S(M 2S), thr3Lz, thr3Lo(fall) - 6pt lead going into the free skate, the doubled solo sal and then the fall on the throw loop, this might be real close - I'm frankly not sure where it'll go<a href="https://t.co/rjFu5jIjM3">https://t.co/rjFu5jIjM3</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldFigure?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldFigure</a>
However, they did well enough to win and make history. Their coach, Bruno Marcotte, spoke afterward.
ISU Figure Skating @ISU_FigureSo many happy tears were shed 😍 Happy skaters, happy coach 👉 it's all been a work in progress, that ended in an historical moment! 🇯🇵🔥 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldFigure?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldFigure</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FigureSkating?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FigureSkating</a> <a href="https://t.co/sDKKT7dCXQ">pic.twitter.com/sDKKT7dCXQ</a>
That was good enough to overcome a strong performance from Brandon Frazier and Alexa Knierim of the United States, who won silver at the 2022 Olympics and gold in last year's World Championships.
The duo was very happy with its performance.
Golden Skate @goldenskateAlexa Knierim / Brandon Frazier 🇺🇸 142.48/ 217.48<br><br>"We see it today like that we won the silver medal not as any loss at all. We are proud of the way we skated tonight. The Japanese team is incredible and we are happy they could win the title on home ice.<br>We skated today to make… <a href="https://t.co/TXJIARtawP">pic.twitter.com/TXJIARtawP</a>
They also did something no U.S. pairs team had done since 1996:
FigureSkatersOnline @fsonline🇺🇲The silver medalists Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier are the first U.S. pairs team to win consecutive medals at Worlds since their coaches, Jenni Meno and Todd Sand, did it in 1995-96. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/worldfigure2023?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#worldfigure2023</a>
The World Championships continue Friday with the ice dance (rhythm dance) and the women's free skating program.
B/R Recommends
Mikaela Shiffrin Breaks Lindsey Vonn's All-Time Alpine Skiing Record with 83 Wins
ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2023: Dates, TV and Live-Stream Schedule
US Figure Skating Championships 2023: Results, Latest Schedule After Friday
US Figure Skating Championships 2023: TV Schedule, Top Contenders and Event Info
