ANGERS, France - Japan's Kao Miura claimed second after a strong men's free skate at the Grand Prix de France on Sunday, the opening tournament of the Grand Prix Series in figure skating.
After coming ninth in Saturday's short program, Miura scored 175.29 points for 247.96 in total in Angers, placing him behind home favorite Adam Siao Him Fa of France, who topped both segments to win on 284.24. South Korea's Seo Minkyu was third on 244.90.
Miura, who settled for 13th at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February, fell on his quadruple toe loop early on but nailed his other two quad jumps en route to sealing a podium finish.
"I was calm and managed to go into it with a positive image," the 21-year-old said after he came second in the free skate. "It's frustrating to have made a big mistake with the quad toe loop but it's a good experience to build on."
After falling on all three of his jumps in the short program, Miura was spurred on by many encouraging messages as well as tips he got on site from the father and coach of American world champion Ilia Malinin, who he trained with over the summer.
"I was quite down (after the short program)," Miura said. "(But) I was able to show my mettle and that I can compete at the top level."
Japan's Sota Yamamoto finished fifth on 224.24 after coming fourth in the free skate with 147.22, while Olympic gold medalist Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan, fourth after the short program, plummeted to 10th overall after finishing 11th in the free skate.
