Figure skating: Sakamoto leads after women's short program at nationals

Kaori Sakamoto stood atop the field after the women's short program Thursday at the Japan national figure skating championships.At the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, Sakamoto skated a clean routine featuring a triple flip-triple toe loop combination for a total score of 73.59 points at the meet, which doubles as a qualifier for next year's Pyeongchang Olympics.Three-time defending champion Satoko Miyahara is in second place, 0.36 points behind Sakamoto, and Rika Hongo (70.48) is third.The 17-year-old Sakamoto said, "I was surprised to see that I scored in the 70s for the first time (in the s…READ FULL ARTICLE