Sakamoto dominates short program at her last NHK Trophy

OSAKA, Japan (AP) — Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto dominated the short program on Friday, putting herself in prime position to defend her title at what she says will be her final NHK Trophy.

Sakamoto said in June she will retire from competition after next year’s Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

Skating to “Time to Say Goodbye,” Sakamoto landed a triple lutz, a double axel and a triple flip-triple toe loop combination on her way to a season-best score of 77.05, almost 10 points ahead of Sofia Samodelkina of Kazakhstan who was second with 67.75.

South Korea’s You Young was third with 67.66.

After winning three consecutive world championships through 2024, Sakamoto finished second at this year’s worlds in Boston in March.

The 25-year-old won the women’s singles bronze medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

Sakamoto finished second behind 17-year-old compatriot Ami Nakai at the season-opening Grand Prix de France last month and came to her home Grand Prix aiming to regain her dominance.

“I was a little nervous since arriving here but was able to put that behind me and skate a solid program,” Sakamoto said. “I completed all my jumps successfully and will look to continue that in the free skate tomorrow.”

Japan’s best hope for a medal at the Olympics, Sakamoto will have to contend with Russian figure skater Adeliia Petrosian in Italy. The 17-year-old Petrosian has won two straight national titles and is unbeaten over the past two seasons, winning eight straight domestic events.

She qualified for the Olympics by winning the gold medal at the ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating qualifier in Beijing in September.

The 2024 European Champion Loena Hendrickx returned to the Grand Prix series after sitting out the past season due to injury.

Hendrickx landed her first two jumps but fell on her third, a triple flip, and finished in fourth place with 62.45 points. Hendrickx qualified for the Olympics by finishing third at the ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating qualifier.

Local favorite Yuma Kagiyama was first after the men’s short program.

The 2022 Olympic silver medalist landed a quad lutz at the start of his routine and added a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination before finishing with a triple axel for 98.58 points.

“I was pleased with all of my jumps, putting everything into them I was able to complete them successfully,” Kagiyama said. “But the mistakes on the spins and step are very regrettable.”

Kagiyama’s compatriot Shun Sato was second with 96.67 points followed by South Korea’s Cha Jun-hwan with 91.60.

In ice dance, world bronze medalists Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain received a season-best score of 81.57 points and were first after the rhythm dance followed by Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy.

Alex and Maia Shibutani of the United States, who are making a comeback after a seven-year absence, were sixth.

In pairs, 2022 Olympic champions Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China were first after the short program. Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy were second while Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko finished third.

Sui and Han delivered a strong short program to “Habanera” that featured a triple toe, triple twist and big throw triple flip. The two-time ISU World Champions set a new season’s best of 74.63 to take the lead.

“For me this is only the beginning,” Han said. “This is our second Grand Prix but we still feel it is new and fresh. We are just getting back to compete and we have a lot of work to do.”

The ISU Grand Prix Series consists of six international events in a cumulative point-scoring format.

Each athlete or team is eligible to score points in up to two of the six scheduled events. The top six point-earners in each discipline qualify for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final set for Dec. 4-7 in Nagoya, Japan.

AP Winter Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Sui Wenjing and Han Cong of China perform during the pairs' short program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - NHK Trophy in Kadoma, east of Osaka, western Japan, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Yuma Kagiyama of Japan reacts during the men's short program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - NHK Trophy in Kadoma, east of Osaka, western Japan, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Yuma Kagiyama of Japan performs during the men's short program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - NHK Trophy in Kadoma, east of Osaka, western Japan, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Kaori Sakamoto of Japan performs during the women's short program in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - NHK Trophy in Kadoma, east of Osaka, western Japan, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Kaori Sakamoto of Japan performs during the women's short program in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating - NHK Trophy in Kadoma, east of Osaka, western Japan, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Sixteen-year-old Arthur Brodard went to the Le Constellation bar with friends to celebrate the New Year. Nearly 48 hours after a devastating fire, his mother still held out hope he might be one of the six injured people who remained unidentified after one of Switzerland’s worst tragedies.

Those half-dozen people gave a glimmer of hope for families whose loved ones were missing in the aftermath of the fire at the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana that killed 40 people and injured 119 others, 113 of whom have been formally identified.

“I’m looking everywhere. The body of my son is somewhere,” Laetitia Brodard, from Lausanne, Switzerland, told reporters. “I want to know, where is my child, and be by his side. Wherever that may be, be it in the intensive care unit or the morgue.”

The severity of the burns has made it difficult to identify both the injured and deceased, requiring families to supply authorities with DNA samples. In some cases, wallets and any identification documents inside turned to ash in the flames. An Instagram account has filled up with photos of people who were unaccounted for, and friends and relatives begged for tips about their whereabouts.

Officials in the Valais regional government acknowledged the prolonged heartache.

“You will understand that the priority today is truly placed on identification, in order to allow the families to begin their mourning,” Beatrice Pilloud, the Valais region's attorney general, told reporters Friday during a news conference.

Mathias Reynard, head of the regional government, added: “We are aware of the particularly difficult hours, of the unbearable side of every minute that passes without answers."

Investigators said Friday that they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the bar crowded with New Year's Eve revelers, two hours after midnight Thursday.

“We were bringing people out, people were collapsing. We were doing everything we could to save them, we helped as many as we could, we saw people screaming, running,” Marc-Antoine Chavanon, 14, told The Associated Press in Crans-Montana on Friday, recounting how he rushed to the bar to help the injured. “There was one of our friends: She was struggling to get out, she was all burned. You can’t imagine the pain I saw.”

Many of the injured were in their teens to mid-20s, police said. Authorities planned to look into whether sound-dampening material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar.

Officials said they would also look at other safety measures on the premises, including fire extinguishers and escape routes. The region's top prosecutor warned of possible prosecutions if any criminal liability is found.

The injured included 71 Swiss nationals, 14 French and 11 Italians, along with citizens of Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Belgium, Portugal and Poland, according to Frédéric Gisler, police commander of the Valais region. The nationalities of 14 people were still unclear.

Emanuele Galeppini, a promising teenage Italian golfer who competed internationally, was officially listed as one of Italy’s missing nationals. His uncle, Sebastiano Galeppini, told Italian news agency ANSA that their family is awaiting the DNA checks, though the Italian Golf Federation on its website announced that he had died.

Dazio reported from Berlin. Associated Press journalists Geir Moulson in Berlin, Graham Dunbar in Geneva, and Nicole Winfield and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed to this report.

People bring flowers and letters, reading "Rest in Peace", near the sealed off Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)

People mourn behind flowers near the sealed off Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

The sealed off Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations is seen in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday morning, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)

People bring flowers and candles near the sealed off Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)

People mourn behind flowers and letters near the sealed off Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)