Overview

• Aged 17, Nakai prevailed with a personal-best free skate of 149.08 and 227.08 overall after attempting the event's only triple axel.
• Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto finished second on 224.23 after rare spin errors, with Rion Sumiyoshi taking bronze ahead of Isabeau Levito.
• Japan swept the women's podium in Angers as the Grand Prix season opened at the first of six events.
• In pairs, world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara lead after the short program with 79.44, ahead of 2024 world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps.
• American Ilia Malinin leads the men's short program with 105.22 as Grand Prix points begin to shape qualification for December's Final in Nagoya.