Mone Chiba beats Amber Glenn at Finlandia Trophy to lead qualifiers for Grand Prix Final

HELSINKI (AP) – Mone Chiba became the only figure skater to win two women’s Grand Prix events this season as she edged U.S. champion Amber Glenn to win the Finlandia Trophy on Saturday.

Skating a “Romeo and Juliet”-themed program, Chiba overcame some shaky early jumps to score 217.22 points overall and overhaul Glenn. The American had been leading after the short program but doubled a planned triple lutz in her free skate and missed a combination.

“For today’s performance, jumps weren’t perfect. However, overall I was able to do the choreo sequence as I imagined and I was able to let out all the emotions that Juliet has,” Chiba said through a translator.

Chiba leads the six qualifiers for next month’s Grand Prix Final. She’s one of four women’s skaters from Japan, with Glenn and world champion Alysa Liu the two Americans in the field.

Glenn was second on 213.41 on Saturday, and Rino Matsuike a more distant third on 193.21. Former world silver medalist Loena Hendrickx’s injury comeback hit trouble as the Belgian withdrew for medical reasons after falling twice in Friday’s short program.

Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama won the men’s event despite falling on a quadruple lutz and scored 270.45 to join Ilia Malinin as one of two men’s skaters to win two Grand Prix competitions this year.

Adam Siao Him Fa dropped to second on 256.98 after leading the short program. Canada’s Stephen Gogolev claimed a first career Grand Prix medal in third with 253.61.

In ice dance, Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron continued their winning start as a team for France, scoring 204.18 to stay ahead of Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier in second on 202.11. Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik held onto bronze for the U.S. with 196.02.

Germany’s Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin extended their slender short-program lead to win the pairs event on 206.88 ahead of two U.S. teams. Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov were second on 205.49 and Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea third on 199.09.