Uno leads Malinin after men’s short program in figure skate

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — Defending titleholder Shoma Uno of Japan has edged American teen Ilia Malinin to lead the men’s short program at the world figure skating championships in Saitama. Uno opened with a triple flip followed with a quadruple toeloop, double toeloop combination. He finished with a triple axel for a season-best 104.63 points. He’s 4.25 points ahead of Malinin. Cha Jun-hwan of South Korea is third on 99.64. The free skate is on Friday. Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara are the first skaters from Japan to win the pairs. Miura and Kihara were second in the free skate. But their two-day total was good enough for a 4.68-points win over defending champions Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier of the United States. European champions Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy were third.