Kaori SAKAMOTO (JPN) | Women Short Program | ISU World Championships | Boston 2025

Kaori Sakamoto! But it was a recovery job, that's for sure. She's lost a little bit on that combination, but for the rest of it, it all looked pretty good. Just taking a check on some of the spins, only a level 3 on the step sequence it looks like. So she's left a few points out there. Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, the defending champion. You're right Chris, she's lost about 4 points on that combination. Half a point to a point on her step sequence level, but I just have to commend her for being able to pull off a triple toe after a pops jump. It's extremely difficult to gain control of your body again when all that momentum opens up in the air. It's very challenging to do a triple toe. We've seen her do it before. She's done it with a single flip at a World Championships in years past. She's fighting for every point, always. Yeah, that's the great thing with Kaori, you always feel it's never over until it's over. I love this. It's a great program by Roheen Ward, it's intricate. Looking here. Deluxe. And here it is. Opens in the air, left arm is flying, she gains control, gets it back in front. And is able to pull off a clean triple toe loop. Yeah, that's the key isn't it? It was clean. Could so easily have been short of rotation there. Level 4 on this layback spin, technical panel awarding her with all 4 features. It's not what she wanted, but she's certainly not going to be out of the game. For dead short. There were so many good parts to that program. So remember, 74.59 is the target, she's not going to get that, but how close can she get? 71.03, so I think she breathes a sigh of relief. It's not as bad as she feared. It is 5th place, but obviously the score has her in the mix.