TOKYO, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Alena Kostornaia dominated the ladies short program at the ISU Grand Prix Figure Skating NHK Trophy on Friday and posted a new highest score for the discipline.
Kostornaia, 16, runner-up of the World Junior Championships last year, completed a beautiful triple Axel and followed up with a triple Lutz and triple flip-triple toeloop combination. Her spins and footwork merited a level four. She scored 85.04, which was not only her personal best but also a new highest score in the ladies short program.
"I'm very happy that I was able to do everything as planned," the Internationaux de France Champion said. "The triple Axel is an opportunity to get more points in the short program as quads are forbidden. But it's also a risk, because if it doesn't work you get less points than for a good double Axel," she added.
Japanese star Kihira Rika also landed a good triple Axel and took second with 79.89. Karen Chen of the United States came third with a distant 67.21. Olympic champion Alina Zagitova of Russia finished fourth after failing to complete a legitimate jump combination.
The NHK Trophy runs from Nov. 22 to 24 and is the last stop of the ISU Grand Prix Series this season. The top six qualifiers of the Grand Prix series in each discipline will proceed to the Final in Turin, Italy in December 5 to 8, 2019.
