Yuma Kagiyama of Japan claimed his fourth consecutive NHK Trophy gold in Osaka on Saturday. Teammate Shun Sato earned the silver, while Lukas Britschgi of Switzerland rose from fifth to capture the bronze.

Yuma Kagiyama

The 2022 Olympic silver medalist produced a rhythmic and snappy short program to “I Wish” which featured a quad toe-triple toe and quad Salchow. Unfortunately, his change camel spin received no points as it was invalid, but he landed a strong triple Axel and earned a level four on his final spin. He picked up many +3 and +4 grades of execution (GOEs) for his first two jumps, and placed first in this segment with a new season’s best of 98.58.

“I was able to keep a cool head going in, but at the same time, I was able to put everything into my jumps, so it led to successful jumps,” said the 22-year-old. “I’m happy about that. Regarding the spin and steps and the mistakes I made, of course, it’s very regrettable. That’s a kind of mistake you don’t make in training. All I have to say is I do need to train more so that I don’t make the same mistake again. That’s the reason why today, my short program did not reach 100 points. So that’s a very bitter takeaway from today, but I’m going to change my mindset going into the free program. I’m sure that I will do my best to nail all the elements.”

The four-time World medalist took a fall on a quad toe, missing the combination in the free skate, but was otherwise near perfect. His program otherwise featured a very strong quad Salchow as well as a quad toe-double toe in the second half of his powerful routine to Turandot. He also produced six triple jumps, including two triple Axels, while displaying level four spins and footwork throughout.

“I was able to really change my mindset, keep cool, and execute all the elements,” said Kagiyama after the fall on the quad toe. “So that was a great takeaway from today’s experience. Through the two days of NHK Trophy, I think I lacked a little bit of confidence. However, if I practice more and accumulate the experience, I know that I will be able to go into the competition more confidently. So, I think that’s another thing I could work on. I usually don’t fall on the quad toe in practice, so that came as a surprise.”

He will compete again in two weeks at Skate America.

Shun Sato

The two-time Four Continents medalist delivered a near-solid short program to “Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra” to place second with a new season’s best of 96.67.  The only mistake came when he landed his opening quad Lutz on the quarter. His lyrical routine otherwise featured a solid quad toe-triple toe and triple Axel along with strong footwork and spins.

“I’m just relieved that it’s all done,” said the 21-year-old. “Going into my short program, I wasn’t really nervous or anything. I was able to be very calm and perform just as I would do in my practices. One point was the rotation of the quad Lutz. So tomorrow in the free program, I hope to land it clean.”

Sato won the free skate with a new personal best score of 189.04. His climatic routine to The Firebird featured a quad Lutz, quad toe-double toe and solo quad toe. He also produced five clean triple jumps, including a triple Axel-Euler-triple Salchow, and all jumps received positive GOEs. Two spins were graded a level four while the footwork garnered a level three. With a total score of 285.71, the 2024-25 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist easily maintained second place overall with less than two points from the top of the podium.

“In the free skating of course, I was really feeling great about landing all those wonderful jumps, especially the quad Lutz,” the 2025 Cup of China champion reflected. “I must say that even including all the practice jumps, it was the best tonight, and so I’m really happy about that. There were some mistakes where I couldn’t get the levels on, so I do need to fine tune and prepare and work hard for the Grand Prix Final.”

Lukas Britschgi

The 2025 European champion stood in fifth after the short program with 83.45 points. He opted not to do a quad, instead, executing a triple toe-triple toe. He went on to land a triple Axel and triple Lutz while displaying level-spins throughout his gritty routine to “No Good” by Kaleo.

In his free skate to “Journey through the Orient,” the seven-time Challenger Series medalist produced a quad toe-double toe and quad toe. He doubled the first jump in a planned triple Axel-double Axel-double Axel sequence, while popping the final jump. He also stepped out of a solo triple Axel, but the triple loop and triple Lutz-triple toe were clean. He earned a level four on all three spins and scored 163.49 points for third place in this segment. With a total score of 246.94, he moved up two spots to third place overall for his second bronze medal at this event.

“I have flashbacks,” said the 27-year-old. ” Two years ago, I was also here with Yuma and back then it was with Shoma (Uno). I’m very happy to be on the podium again. It was an amazing event as usual here in Japan and in Osaka. The support we received from the audience is just amazing! It gives me, and I guess all of us, a lot of energy and makes it even more fun. Maybe I did some mistakes, but overall, it was a great pleasure to perform here.”

Boyang Jin

China’s Boyang Jin placed fourth in the short program. His routine to “Fought & Lost” featured a solid quad toe and triple Axel with three level-four spins. The only error came when he did a double three turn after a triple Lutz in combination with a triple toe. The two-time World bronze medalist also received a one-point deduction for a time violation, scoring 83.92 points going into the free skate.

“I made a mistake in the combination,” the 28-year-old pointed out. “The first jump was too high and so I had a problem. I did not have much preparation for this event after the Cup of China as I caught a cold and missed training.”

The two-time World bronze medalist placed fifth in the free skate and fourth overall with two new season’s best scores (155.13/239.05). His intimate routine to “Perfect Symphony” featured two quad toes, one in combination with a double toe. He also landed a triple Axel-double toe, but underrotated and stepped out of a solo triple Axel. He landed four more triple jumps with the flip receiving an edge call, but all three spins were graded a level four.

Junhwan Cha

Junhwan Cha of South Korea opened his short program with a solid quad Salchow.  He elected not to do a second quad, but underrotated and put a foot down on a triple Lutz-triple loop. He followed up with a triple Axel while earning a level four on both spins and the footwork. The three-time Four Continents medalist picked up a new season’s best of 91.60 for his dramatic routine to “Rain, In Your Black Eyes,” placing third in this segment.

“It was not my best performance, but I’m really trying my best today,” said the 24-year-old. “To be honest, I’m having a little hard time right now, but today, during my skating, I really focused myself and focused on every element. Still, I made some mistakes during the performance, but I gave it my all today, so I’m happy about that. I want to stay positive and get through free program tomorrow.”

Unfortunately, the national champion struggled with nearly all of his jumps in his free skate, placing 10th (138.66) in this segment. With a total score of 230.26, he slipped off the podium to fifth overall.

Slovakia’s Adam Hagara placed sixth overall (230.00), followed by Matteo Rizzo of Italy (229.60).

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Paula Slater

Founder of Golden Skate in 1999, Paula has followed the sport of figure skating for over four decades. A retired U.S. Army veteran, she takes joy in promoting the sport worldwide, covering events, interviewing skaters, and providing resources. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and in her free time, enjoys reading, walking her dogs, painting, and consuming large quantities of coffee.