Japanese 16-year-old Rika Kihira clinched victory on Saturday at the figure skating Grand Prix final in Vancouver, British Columbia, capping off a brilliant debut season on the international circuit.
She took a big lead into Saturday’s free skate after posting the highest score (82.51 points) of the season in the short program.
Kihira then recorded the best score in the free skate, despite a fall, to easily beat fellow 16-year-old Alina Zagitova, this year’s Pyeongchang Olympics champion.
Photo: AFP
“In my first Axel, I had a mistake, but after that I was able to regroup and finish my performance with no more mistakes,” Kihira said via an interpreter. “I was able to change from a state of nervousness into concentration.”
Kihira posted a total score of 233.12 for her third grand prix victory of the season, while Russia’s Zagitova, last year’s grand prix champion, finished second on 226.53 points and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva of Russia was a distant third on 215.32 points.
Despite her youth, Kihira said that she had learned from past mistakes.
“Last season and the season before that, I had many failures and I promised myself that I would remember them and never repeat those mistakes again,” she said. “Although I did have one mistake today, at this point I’m really satisfied with myself.”
Kihira’s long-term goal is to win gold at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
“Ever since I was a child, I’ve dreamed of going to the Olympics,” she said. “I have this dream of going to the Beijing Olympics and winning there.”
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS