Nobunari Oda
KITCHENER, Ontario (Kyodo) Japanese figure skater Nobunari Oda eased into the men's main draw of the world junior championships after leading the field in the qualifying round on Wednesday.
National junior champion Oda failed to complete a triple axel but otherwise performed solidly to earn 121.30 points from the judges in qualifying Group A, 11.08 points clear of second-place Patrick Chan of Canada. Japan's Yasuharu Nanri was seventh in the group.
"I was tense coming onto the ice but all in all I was able to perform well," said the 17-year-old Oda, a descendant of 16th-century warlord Nobunaga Oda. "I was 11th last year and, hopefully, I'll finish at least in the top 10 this year."
The men's short program will be held on Friday, followed by the free skate on Saturday. The women's free skate is scheduled for Thursday.
Earlier, Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the pairs gold medal, with
Canada's Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison captured the silver, and Tatiana Kokoreva and Egor Golovkin of Russia claimed the bronze medal.
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