Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan produced his best performance of the season so far to top the standings in the men’s short programme ©Getty Images

Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan produced his best performance of the season so far to top the standings in the men’s short programme at the NHK Trophy at the Makomanai Sekisuiheim Ice Arena in Sapporo.

Hanyu, winner of the gold medal in the men's singles at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, dominated the event and his routine, skated to “Let’s Go Crazy” by Prince, was rewarded with a colossal total of 103.89 points.

His display saw him end the first day of the competition, the last International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating event of the regular season, comfortably ahead of the rest of the field.

American Nathan Chen was second on 87.94 points, with Hanyu’s team-mate Keiji Tanaka clinching third place on 80.49.

Hanyu admitted he was not totally happy with his routine as he stumbled on the landing of his opening quad loop as he bids to secure a spot at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Marseille, due to take place from December 8 to 11.

“I was not able to land the quad loop cleanly and I’m very disappointed about that, however, I really was able to enjoy my skating today and I hope it will carry over to tomorrow and the next competition,” he said.

World Championships bronze medallist Anna Pogorilaya of Russia leads the way in the women’s singles competition ©Getty Images
World Championships bronze medallist Anna Pogorilaya of Russia leads the way in the women’s singles competition ©Getty Images

World Championships bronze medallist Anna Pogorilaya of Russia leads the way in the women’s singles competition as she won the short programme event with a score of 71.56.

Her compatriot Maria Sotskova did enough for second on 69.96 points, while the success for the home figure skaters continued as Satoko Miyahara finished third with 64.20.

“Overall I’m satisfied, I was able to show my skating, but obviously there were some little errors that I need to work on,” Pogorilaya said.

“Now I’m already preparing for the free skating.”

Cheng Peng and Yang Jin of China edged Canada’s Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, the the two-time world champions, in the pairs short programme.

The Chinese duo moved a step closer to their target of earning a Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final berth as they ended at the summit of the standings on 73.33 points.

A fall from Duhamel proved to be costly as the Canadian team ended narrowly adrift of Cheng and Yang’s score, claiming 72.95 points.

Third went to Xuehan Wang and Lei Wang of China, who scored 65.66.

The NHK Trophy continues tomorrow with action in the free skate discipline.