Shoma Uno of Japan Repeats as World Figure Skating Champion

Japan's Shoma Uno competes during the men's free skating at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama on March 25, 2023. (AFP)
Japan's Shoma Uno competes during the men's free skating at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama on March 25, 2023. (AFP)
TT
20

Shoma Uno of Japan Repeats as World Figure Skating Champion

Japan's Shoma Uno competes during the men's free skating at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama on March 25, 2023. (AFP)
Japan's Shoma Uno competes during the men's free skating at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama on March 25, 2023. (AFP)

Shoma Uno prevailed in a quad showdown in the free skate on Saturday to become the first Japanese man to defend his title at the figure skating world championships.

Uno, skating to selection of music that included Bach, attempted five quadruple jumps at Saitama Super Arena. He landed all of them except the quad salchow which he under-rotated for a total of 301.14 points.

South Korean skater Cha Jun-hwan was second with 296.03 points followed by American teenager Ilia Malinin, who became the first skater to land a quadruple axel at the world championships and finished with 288.44 points.

“The free skate was far from perfect but I put everything into it,” Uno said. “Every jump felt precarious, but I was able to get a good result.”

Uno capped an impressive performance by the hosts that saw Japanese skaters take gold in three out of four disciplines for the first time in history. Kaori Sakamoto won the women’s title while Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won the pairs gold.

“The past two weeks have been very tough because I wasn’t in peak condition, and I caused a lot of concern to everyone around me,” Uno said. “But I was able to pay them back and show my gratitude with my performance today.”

Cha, third after the short program, moved up to second with a powerful routine that featured a quad salchow and a quad toe-loop.

Cha landed all his jumps cleanly except for a triple flip on his way to becoming the first South Korean man to win a medal at the world championships.

“It’s an honor to be the first male skater as a Korean skater to get a (world) medal,” Cha said.

Malinin attempted six quadruple jumps. He landed his opening quad axel but under-rotated a quad lutz which was part of a combination and was deducted points on a quad flip and a quad lutz.

It was Malinin’s first medal at the world championships. He finished ninth in his 2022 debut in Montpellier, France.

“I was nervous at the beginning, so I was glad to pull it off,” Malinin said. “I’m just very shocked by how much I have progressed this season.”

Coached by his parents who represented Uzbekistan, the 18-year-old Malinin is the only skater to land a quadruple axel, widely considered the hardest jump in figure skating, in competition.

Russia’s dominant skating team has been excluded from the world championships for the second straight year because of the invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States won their first ice dance title.

First after the rhythm dance, Chock and Bates finished first in the free dance with 134.07 points for a total of 226.1.

Reigning European Champions Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy were second with 219.85 points while Grand Prix Final Champions Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada were third with 217.88.

Chock fell once but it was not on a required element.

“We had to dig very, very deep many times, but I know we would not be sitting here without all this experience,” Chock said, adding the fall came as a shock to her. “I just caught my heel on the ice and it was so surprising.”

Chock and Bates, the three-time Four Continents champions, have been together for 12 years.

They won the silver medal at the 2015 world championships in Shanghai, bronze in Boston in 2016 and bronze last year in Montpellier.

They have also competed at six Grand Prix Finals, winning four medals — all silver.

“We’ve been pursuing this goal for so many years,” Bates said. “It was exciting and stressful all at the same time. I know that the ice dance field is very competitive. We’ve competed against all these teams for so many years.

“We really wanted to focus on ourselves, and skate our best, and highlight all the work that we’ve put this year into these programs.”

The 2024 world championships will take place in Montreal, Canada.



Draper Stuns Two-time Defending Champ Alcaraz to Reach Indian Wells Final

 Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)
Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)
TT
20

Draper Stuns Two-time Defending Champ Alcaraz to Reach Indian Wells Final

 Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)
Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)

Jack Draper ended Carlos Alcaraz's bid for a rare Indian Wells ATP Masters three-peat on Saturday, toppling the Spaniard to book a title clash with Holger Rune.

Britain's Draper, ranked 14th in the world, held his nerve to beat Alcaraz 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 and reach the first Masters 1000 final of his career.

Denmark's Rune, ranked 13th, triumphed 7-5, 6-4 over world number six Daniil Medvedev -- who had been runner-up to Alcaraz each of the past two years.

"This one hurts," admitted Alcaraz, who was trying to join Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to win three straight titles in the California desert.

"I don't want to lose any match, but I think this one was even more special to me. It was difficult today, a lot of nerves in the match."

Draper ended Alcaraz's 16-match winning streak in the California desert, leaping out of the gate and wrapping up the first set in 23 minutes as Alcaraz failed to get to grips with the left-hander's serve.

The second set was a mirror image of the first as Alcaraz found his range and after fending off a break point with a 137-mph ace in the opening game broke Draper three times to level the match.

“It was a strange match in all honesty,” Draper said. "Carlos came out a little flat, I sensed that. I had a chance in the first game of the second, and he came up with an ace ...

"What happened to him happened to me, I got tight, I had low energy. I got lost out there for 25 minutes, but in the third, I was really proud of my competitiveness, my attitude and I somehow managed to get over the line."

Draper, who lost a set to love for the first time in his career, broke Alcaraz for a 2-1 lead in the third in a game that featured a lengthy video review that showed the Briton had indeed managed to scoop back a winner off an Alcaraz drop shot without a double bounce.

Upon review umpire Mohamed Lahyani first called for the point to be replayed but then awarded it to Draper, ruling his "not up" call in the rally hadn't hindered Alcaraz.

"Waiting for the ball reviews, they didn't bother me at all," Alcaraz said. "All I can say is Jack came, he played much better than me. That point didn't affect my play at all."

With momentum on his side, Draper broke again for 5-2 lead -- Alcaraz failing to put away four game points.

Draper did show some nerves as he served for the match at 5-2 and was broken, abut steadied himself to seal the victory on his second opportunity.

Rune executed a thoughtful game plan to perfection against Medvedev to snap a seven-match losing streak in semi-finals.

"It was to really play my game, come forward, take the ball on the rise," Rune said of his strategy against a player known for his defense.

"If you hit hard to him, he likes the pace and he responds well to being in the defense and hitting strong back.

"So I tried to make it difficult for him. I tried to mix it up, making every shot that he has to play annoying for him. Slices, slow slices, some mixing the tempo, hitting hard on some, looping some."

After an early exchange of breaks in the opening set, Rune managed to grind out a key hold for 4-4, saving one break point in a game that went to deuce six times and lasted nearly 11 minutes.

He broke for a 6-5 lead and pocketed the set when his rolling backhand drew another error from Medvedev, then rode an early break in the second set to victory.