Figure skating: Sato 4th, Kagiyama 6th as Malinin takes big lead at worlds

PRAGUE - U.S. figure skating star Ilia Malinin took a big lead at the world championships in Prague with an impressive bounce-back performance in the men's short program on Thursday, while Japanese Olympic medalists Shun Sato and Yuma Kagiyama placed fourth and sixth, respectively.

The 21-year-old Malinin, who finished eighth at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics after a disastrous free skate performance, was flawless on his way to a personal-best short program score of 111.29 in the Czech capital.