MOSCOW (AFP) — South Korea's Kim Yu-Na confirmed her top status on Friday by leading the women's event after the opening day of the Cup of Russia, the fifth in the six-leg Grand Prix figure skating series.
Kim, 17, who won Grand Prix title last year and the Cup of China earlier this month, scored 63.50 points for her short programme to Strauss' Die Fledermaus, to finish tree points ahead of Japan's Yukari Nakano, this year's Skate Canada runner-up.
Finland's rising star Kiira Korpi is currently third.
Former two-time world champion Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland, third at China Cup, topped the men's section after the short programme with a 80.49 mark for his routine to Carne Cruda by Fernando Egozcue.
But it looks set to be a battle going into Saturday's free skate final with American Johnny Weir, this year's China Cup winner and last year's runner-up here, just 0.34pts after achieving a new personal best mark of 80.15.
Local crowd favourite Andrei Griazev is sitting third on 70.95 points as Olympic bronze medallist Jeffrey Buttle of Canada slipped to sixth.
In pairs, Olympic silver medallists Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang of China, who won last week's Trophee Bompard in Paris are leading European champions and Skate Canada winners Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany.
Russia's Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin took the ice dance lead with a flawless presentation of the Yankee Polka in the compulsory dance section ahead of France's Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat.
Another Russian pair Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev sit third ahead of the original dance and free dance sections.
The final event of the series is the NHK Trophy in Japan from November 29-December 2 with the Grand Prix final in Turin from December 13-16.
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