Saitama (Japan) (AFP) - Defending champion Shoma Uno shrugged off an injury scare and the challenge of "QuadGod" Ilia Malinin to lead after the men's short programme at the world figure skating championships on Thursday.
Japan's Uno, competing in front of his home fans in Saitama, north of Tokyo, gave a commanding performance to take first place on 104.63 points, ahead of 18-year-old American Malinin on 100.38 and South Korea's Cha Jun-hwan on 99.64.
Uno, skating to "Gravity" by John Mayer, showed no sign of discomfort after hurting his right ankle in a fall in practice on the eve of the competition.
He pumped his fist after completing his routine and came off the ice wearing a huge grin before receiving his season-best score.
Self-proclaimed "QuadGod" Malinin lived up to his own hype with a spellbinding performance to claim a new personal best score in second place.
The teenage sensation arrived in Japan with a big reputation, having become the first skater ever to land the ultra-difficult quadruple axel jump in competition in September last year.
He did not include the move in his short programme but he dazzled from start to finish, dressed head to toe in black and skating to "I Put A Spell On You" by Garou.
He is set to unleash his quad axel in Saturday's free skate, where he will look to add a first world title to the US crown he captured earlier this year.
Olympic champion Nathan Chen is not competing while he studies at university, and Russian skaters are again banned from the competition because of the war in Ukraine.
