Daisuke Takahashi overcame a tumble to defend his men’s title at the NHK Trophy in Sapporo and book his ticket to the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Grand Final.
The 25-year-old Olympic bronze medallist set himself up for gold following the short program where he posted a score of 90.43 – over 10 points ahead of second placed Japanese teammate Takahiko Kozuka.
And it remained that way after the free skate with Takahashi earning a season's best score of 169.32, despite falling in going for a quadruple flip, for a overall total of 259.75.
Kozuka, while falling even further behind Takahashi in the free skate, comfortably held on for silver with 235.02 while American Ross Miner took bronze with 212.36.
And with a trip to Quebec for next month’s Grand Final now assured, Takahashi admits improvements will need to be made if he is to leave Canada with his first-ever title.
"I am relieved to advance to the Grand Prix Final but I know I must improve my performance in order to be ready for the Final," said the former world champion and two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist.
"My performance wasn’t a 100 per-cent yet and I won’t win in the Final with that kind of performance. But I am happy that I was able to land the quad flip during the six minute warm up."
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