Sawt Falasteen - Malinin, Liu help US take early lead at skating's World Team Trophy

Malinin, who won his second world title last month in Boston, topped the men's short programme in Tokyo with a score of 106.08, almost 10 points clear of second-placed Adam Siao Him Fa of France.

Liu led the women's short programme and ice dance world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates also won their event to give the United States an eight-point lead over second-place Japan.

Malinin, known as the "Quad God" for his arsenal of quadruple jumps, said he was "a little bit tired" in his first competition since the world championships.

But the 20-year-old also said he was "pretty happy" with his routine after showcasing his skills to an adoring Japanese crowd.

"I felt like my performance was a lot better than at worlds," said Malinin, who is the hot favourite to win gold at next year's Milan-Cortina Olympics.

"I was able to not have that world championship on my mind and just skate for fun. I was able to get into myself."

Siao Him Fa was second with 96.16 ahead of American Jason Brown with 93.82.

Liu went into the women's competition riding a wave of momentum following her maiden world title.

The 19-year-old returned to competition last year after two years away from skating and described her victory in Boston as "very unexpected".

She kept her form going in Tokyo, winning the short programme with a score of 75.70, ahead of Japan's Kaori Sakamoto with 75.54 and Georgia's Anastasiia Gubanova with 69.80.

Liu said she "really felt the competition comedown" after the world championships but fought through the fatigue.

"I was so tired, I slept a lot and I felt that if I was hard at training, I would be too tired here," said Liu, who was just 16 when she stepped away from the sport in 2022.

"I just kept it really easy, hoping that I could just hold on a little bit longer for this."

Chock and Bates won the ice dance rhythm dance with 91.25 points, ahead of Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier on 87.15 and Italy's Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri on 84.58.

X.Habash--SF-PST