Japan's Shoma Uno and Yuma Kagiyama are in first and second place after their performances Thursday in the men's short program at the figure skating world championships.
Seeking his third straight world title, Uno landed a quad flip and quad-triple toe loop combination to deliver a flawless performance in Montreal that earned him 107.72 points, the highest score recorded by any skater this season.
"I jumped my best-ever (quad) flip. It was a wonderful short program," Uno said. "I'll celebrate it today and tomorrow before switching my mindset (to the free skate on Saturday)."
Kagiyama and third-placed American Ilia Malinin also each landed two quad jumps, logging 106.35 and 105.97, respectively, to stay hot on Uno's heels.
"Having a point or two more doesn't change things much in the men's competition," said Uno, who is planning four quad jumps in the free skate.
"I'm hoping to put in the maximum performance I can imagine."
Kagiyama, who has finished second twice at worlds, was buoyed by his mistake-free performance.
"I managed to perform with my maximum technique and confidence," he said. "The real battle starts here. I hope to prepare well heading into the free skate."
In the pairs, Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara topped Thursday's free skate with 144.35 but their combined total of 217.88 was only enough to see them finish second.
Miura and Kihara were second in the short program with 73.53, behind Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps who logged 77.48. The Canadian pair held on to the top spot after logging 144.08 in the free skate which saw them total 221.56.
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany came third on 210.40.
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