Figure skating from Japan, and the NHK trophy in Sapporo is this the last of the six events for skaters to qualify for the grand prix of figure skating final. And Chinese pairs -- Peng Cheng and Jin Yang would do their best to ensure their participation at the event.

The Chinese duo were coming off a second place performance in Beijing at the Cup of China, and looked confident in their routine. The two would be in sync and were able to score a personal best score of 73.3 points thanks to a solid effort involving a series of lifts and throws.

Japanese skater registers season best score of 103.89

In the men's short program -- home favourite and 2014 Olympic gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu gave the Sapporo crowd something to cheer about, skating to Prince's lets go crazy, even wearing a purple outfit -- and pulled off a quadruple Salchow-triple toe combination to set a season best score of 103.89 and a sizeable lead heading into the long program.

World bronze medalist manages score of 71.56 points

In the ladies event -- Russian's Anna Pogorilaya finished on top, the world bronze medalist scoring 71.56 points and has a 2 point lead on Japan's Saoko Miyahara.

2010 Olympic champs lead after return from 2-year hiatus

In ice dancing --- Canadian duo Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are back after a two-year rest hiatus, they also skated to Prince -- their routine was accompanied by the tune "Kiss". The 2010 winter Olympic champs performed a solid routine and lead after the compulsory.