Hanyu sets record score in short program at NHK Trophy

NAGANO, Japan (AP) - Olympic figure skating champion Yuzuru Hanyu set a record score in the short program at the NHK Trophy on Friday.

Hanyu received 106.33 points to eclipse his own previous high of 101.45 at the Sochi Olympics.

Jin Boyang of China was second with 95.64, followed by Takahito Mura of Japan on 88.29.

Satoko Miyahara of Japan hit all of her jumps to finish first after the women's short program with a score of 69.53 followed by Americans Courtney Hicks with 65.60, and Ashley Wagner on 63.71.

Mao Asada, making a comeback after a year off, was fourth with 62.50. Asada fell on her opening triple axel and singled a triple lutz.

Skating to Chopin's "Ballad No. 1," Hanyu opened with a quad salchow and a quad toe loop, triple toe loop combination. He also cleanly landed a triple axel.

"At a certain point, I felt I had to include two quads in the short program," Hanyu said. "As the Olympic champion, I felt that it is necessary as I prepare for the 2018 Olympics."

Hanyu is looking for his first Grand Prix win of the season after finishing second at Skate Canada behind Canada's Patrick Chan. A win would secure him a place at the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona from Dec. 10-13.

As he did at the Cup of China, Jin cleanly executed a rare quad lutz-triple toe loop combination to open his routine to "Tango Amore."

"I thought I could make a good performance," Jin said. "All of my jumps were good quality and I was able to do everything I practiced."

The men's and women's program conclude on Saturday.

In pairs, world champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada were first after the short program with 71.04 points. Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierim of the United States were second with 68.43, followed by Xiaoyu Yu and Yang Jin of China at 67.00.