Kagiyama and Sakamoto lead Japanese sweep of men’s and women's short programs at NHK Trophy

TOKYO (AP) — Defending champion Yuma Kagiyama performed a near-flawless routine on Friday to lead a Japanese sweep of the men’s figure skating short program at the NHK Trophy.

Skating to “The Sound of Silence,” Kagiyama nailed an effortless quadruple salchow on his opening jump and followed with a quad toeloop-triple toeloop combination.

The 2022 Olympic silver medalist added a triple axel to finish with a season-best 105.70 points.

“I was trying to equal the score I had at the Olympics but was three points short,” the three-time world silver medalist said. “Today’s performance, from beginning to end, went just as planned.”

Kagiyama’s compatriot Kao Miura was second with a personal-best 102.96 points while Tatsuya Tsuboi completed a sweep of the top three places for the host nation with 85.02.

“All three skaters did what they needed to do today,” Kagiyama said. “Tatsuya had great flow and we were given great motivation. Kao was creating real momentum and I needed to do well.”

Andrew Torgashev of the United States was fourth with 84.36.

In the women’s short program, three-time and reigning world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan finished first with a season-best 78.93 points.

Sakamoto, who won gold at Skate Canada two weeks ago, opened with a double axel and also cleanly landed a triple lutz and triple flip-triple toeloop combination.

“I was very pleased with the lutz and it was highly evaluated,” Sakamoto said. “I was able to concentrate well throughout the entire routine.”

Like the men’s short program, the women’s top three was also swept by the host nation.

Mone Chiba was second with 71.69, followed by Yuna Aoki with 69.78.

Alysa Liu of the United States, who is making a comeback, was fourth with 65.03.

Liu started off with a triple flip-triple toeloop combination and landed a double axel and a triple lutz later in her routine.

Two-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States were first after the ice dance short program.

The U.S. champions, who were second at Skate America, collected level fours and threes for their elements for a season’s best score of 86.32 points.

“We made some really good strides since Skate America, specifically with this program,” Bates said. “We put a lot of effort into improving it and changed some of the music, some of the choreography, which can be challenging in the midst of the Grand Prix.”

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, also of the United States, were second with 79.64, followed by Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius of Lithuania with 77.91.

In pairs, skating to “Paint it Black,” world silver medalists Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan were first after the short program with 71.90 points.

Miura and Kihara completed a triple twist, throw triple lutz but Miura landed forward on a triple toe which was downgraded.

“There was a mistake we were able to recover from ... that was very good for us,” Miura said. “Our choreographer has changed and we thought we needed to create something new.”

Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia were second with 70.28, followed by Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea of the U.S. with 69.15.

The NHK Trophy is the fourth event in the ISU’s Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series.

A total of 60 skaters and couples are representing 16 countries in men’s women’s, pairs and ice dance competitions.

The next round of the GP Series is Nov. 15-17 at the Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki, Finland.

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Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea of the U.S. compete in the pairs short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia compete in the pairs short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan compete in the pairs short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius of Lithuania compete in the ice dance rhythm dance program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko of the U.S. compete in the ice dance rhythm dance program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. compete in the ice dance rhythm dance program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Yuna Aoki of Japan competes in the women's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Mone Chiba of Japan competes in the women's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Mone Chiba of Japan competes in the women's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Kaori Sakamoto of Japan competes in the women's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Kaori Sakamoto of Japan competes in the women's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Andrew Torgashev of the U.S. competes in the men's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Andrew Torgashev of the U.S. competes in the men's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Tatsuya Tsuboi of Japan competes in the men's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Kao Miura of Japan competes in the men's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Yuma Kagiyama of Japan reacts after competing in the men's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. compete in the ice dance rhythm dance program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Kaori Sakamoto of Japan competes in the women's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Yuma Kagiyama of Japan competes in the men's short program at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series competition in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.

Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.

The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.

On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.

Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.

“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”

Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.

Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.

“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.

Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)