Japan's Kaori Sakamoto missed out on a podium spot when she slid to fourth place following her free skate on Saturday, while Russia's Anna Shcherbakova clinched the women's crown in her senior Grand Prix debut at Skate America.
Sakamoto, who was in second when the night began, amassed a total of 202.47 points, fewer than the 210-plus points she scored when claiming silver at Skate America in both the past two years. Wakaba Higuchi, who was third after Friday's short program, fell to sixth.
"Lack of practice hurt (my chances for a medal)," Sakamoto said.
"I've been too easy on myself during my free skate practices. I have to get in better shape as I need more strength to land jumps after perfecting my choreography," she said.
(Kaori Sakamoto)
(Anna Shcherbakova)
[International Skating Union/Getty/Kyodo]
Shcherbakova completed two quadruple lutz jumps and stole the show at Orleans Arena, moving up from fourth after the short program to the top of the podium. The 15-year-old scored a season-best 160.16 points in the free skate, taking her total to 227.76 points.
American Bradie Tennell, who led after the short program, wound up in second place with an overall score of 216.14 points. Russia's Elizaveta Tuktamysheva scored 138.69 in the free skate and finished with a bronze.
Earlier in the day, Kazuki Tomono finished fifth to be the best-placed Japanese in the men's event while Nathan Chen won his third consecutive Skate America title.
Jason Brown joined two-time world champion Chen on the podium to make it a 1-2 for the United States at the first of six stops on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. Russia's Dmitri Aliev took bronze.
(Kazuki Tomono)
(Nathan Chen)
Chen had a commanding lead after Friday's short program and scored 196.38 points for his "Rocketman" free skate, in which he delivered three quadruple jumps, to seal the gold with a total of 299.09 points. He finished 44 points ahead of Brown.
Tomono, eighth after the short program, finished fourth in the free skate to climb the standings while compatriot Koshiro Shimada, 11th after the short program, was 10th overall after a seventh-place performance in the free skate.
"I felt more comfortable than I did in any other competition. I put everything out there. I can still improve on my score, but I nailed a quad toe loop which I was so eager to do, so I feel like that was a big step forward," Tomono said.
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Figure skating: Sakamoto, Higuchi in top-3 after Skate America SP
