Japan's Miura and Kihara win pairs at figure skate worlds

SAITAMA, Japan — Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara became the first skaters from Japan to win the pairs at the world figure skating championships on Thursday.

Miura and Kihara were first after the short program on Wednesday and finished second in the free skate with 141.44 points, behind reigning world champions Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier of the United States.

But their two-day total of 222.19 points was good enough for a 4.68 lead over Knierim and Frazier, who scored 142.84 in the free for a 217.48 total.

Frazier fell in the short program on the triple toe which proved to be costly for the Americans.

European champions Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy were third with 208.08.

Miura and Kihara won the silver medal at the last worlds. Their personal best of 80.72 in the short program gave them a 6.08-point lead over the Americans and a shot at history heading into the free program at Saitama Super Arena.

Other Japanese winners of world championships are Yuzuru Hanyu in the men’s individual, and Kaori Sakamoto, who leads after the short program and is aiming to become the first Japanese woman to win back-to-back titles.

Russia’s typically dominant skating team has been excluded from the world championships for the second straight year because of the invasion of Ukraine.

Japan’s Shoma Uno was set to defend his men’s title starting with the short program later Thursday.