Two-time defending champion Kaori Sakamoto remains in contention for a "three-peat" at the figure skating world championships in Montreal despite making costly mistakes in her short program on Wednesday.
The 2022 Olympic bronze medalist placed fourth with 73.29 and will head into Friday's free skate trailing short program winner Loena Hendrickx of Belgium by 3.69 points.
U.S. skater Isabeau Levito scored 73.73 in the short program for second while South Korea's Lee Hae In was third with 73.55.
Sakamoto opened with a smooth double axel but was shaky on her subsequent triple lutz and barely saved her triple flip-triple toe-loop combination.
Speaking afterward, the 23-year-old was focused on the upcoming free skate at Montreal's Bell Centre.
"I can't afford any more mistakes," said Sakamoto, who won her third straight Japanese national championship in December.
"If I remain calm and perform to my ability, the results will follow. I want to stay focused until the end."
Among the other Japanese competitors, Hana Yoshida (64.56) and Mone Chiba (62.64) qualified for the free skate in eighth and 13th place, respectively.
Athletes from women's figure skating superpower Russia remain barred from the world championships over the country's invasion of Ukraine.
Shoma Uno will begin his bid for a third straight men's world title in Thursday's short program, with Yuma Kagiyama and Kao Miura also representing Japan.
In the pairs' competition, Japanese world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara scored 73.53 in the short program to place second behind Canada's Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps (77.48) heading into the free skate.
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