US takes lead at figure skating’s World Team Trophy

FUKUOKA, Japan (AP) — World champion Nathan Chen and Vincent Zhou combined for a 1-2 finish in the men’s short program Thursday to give the United States the lead on the opening day of figure skating’s World Team Trophy.

Skating to “Caravan” by Duke Ellington, Chen landed a triple axel, a quadruple toeloop and a triple lutz-triple toeloop combination for 101.95 points.

Zhou opened with a quadruple lutz-triple toeloop combination and added a quad salchow and a triple axel to finish second with 100.51 points. Shoma Uno of Japan was third with 92.78.

The U.S. leads with 50 points, two ahead of Japan and 12 ahead of third-place Russia.

Rika Kihira of Japan opened with a flawless triple axel and finished first in the women’s short program with 83.97 points. Russian skater Elizaveta Tuktamysheva was second with 80.54, followed by Kaori Sakamoto of Japan with 76.95.

Six countries are competing in the sixth edition of the World Team Trophy.

The United States has won the event three times, in 2009, 2013 and 2015, while Japan took top honors in 2012 and in 2017.