JAPANESE teenager Ami Nakai delivered a stunning performance on day one of the season-opening ISU Grand Prix de France on Friday. The 17-year-old pushed teammate and big favourite Kaori Sakamoto into second place after the women’s short programme. Nakai, competing in her first senior season, landed a triple Axel and triple Lutz-triple toe combination flawlessly to Nino Rota’s La Strada. She earned a personal best 78.00 points for her Italian-themed performance ahead of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. “Having moved up from juniors to seniors, I was looking forward to skating with many great skaters on this very big stage,“ said Nakai. “I was not surprised with how I did, but when my score came up I was so happy that I jumped up.” She leads Sakamoto by 1.8 points heading into Saturday’s free skate. Sakamoto, a three-time world champion undefeated on the Grand Prix circuit for two seasons, scored 76.20 points. The 2022 Olympic bronze medallist performed to ‘Time To Say Goodbye’ by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli. “Six years ago, my experience at the Grand Prix in France was a bitter one,“ said Sakamoto, who placed fourth then. “Today coming back I was a bit nervous, tight even. There were times where I came close to making a mistake. Nevertheless, I still got a very high score and I am pretty pleased with it.” American Isabeau Levito took third place with 73.37 points while skating to Sophia Loren’s voice in an elegant red rhinestone outfit. Japan’s Rion Sumiyoshi finished fourth and South Korea’s Kim Chae-yeon fell on a triple flip to place sixth. Japan’s reigning world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara lead the pairs competition after their short programme to the Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint It, Black’. They scored 79.44 points ahead of Canadians Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, the 2024 world champions. The pairs free skating final takes place on Saturday along with the women’s free skate. The French Grand Prix marks the start of the international figure skating season less than four months before the Winter Games. US two-time world champion Ilia Malinin opens his Olympic season in Angers on Saturday. The 20-year-old quadruple-jumping specialist is favourite to follow retired fellow American Nathan Chen onto the top of the Olympic men’s podium. Malinin faces home hope Adam Siao Him Fa, a three-time winner in Angers and former world medallist. Reigning Olympic ice dance champion Guillaume Cizeron, now partnered with Canadian Laurence Fournier Beaudry, will also compete. Italy’s Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri join Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, the world ice dancing bronze medallists, in the competition. Skaters compete in two of the six-leg series with the top ranked qualifying for the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan from December 4-7. – AFP