Hanyu Soars to New World Record at GP Final

Japan's Olympic figure skating champion Yuzuru Hanyu scored to new heights, posting another world record score in the short program at the ISU Grand Prix Final on Thursday.

Fresh from his record scores at the NHK Trophy, Hanyu achieved 110.95 points in the short program to better his 106.33 from Nagano two weeks ago which had eclipsed his own previous high of 101.45 set at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Hanyu also set a new record in the free skating and overall total in Nagano where he became the first skater to break the mythical 300-point mark with 322.40 points.

"I was surprised too," admitted Hanyu, after an exquisite performance to Chopin's Ballade No. 1 which included two perfectly executed quadruple jumps and a triple axel.

He applauded his own performance as the music died away to give way to cheers from the large contingent of Japanese fans in Barcelona's International Convention Center.

The 21-year-old leads world champion and training partner Javier Fernandez of Spain (91.52) going into Saturday's free skating final with China's Jin Boyang a distant third (86.95).

A victory on Saturday would see Hanyu become the first man to win three consecutive men's Grand Prix Final titles in the event which marks its 20th anniversary this season.

"Wow," was all coach Brian Orser could say rink-side before joining his other skater Fernandez, who took to the ice after Hanyu's heroics.

"Skating after Yuzuru is always hard because of the fans," said Fernandez, who finished second behind Hanyu in Barcelona last year.

"Then I saw the world record and I said to myself 'it doesn't matter what I do I'm not going to better better than that'.

"It's already hard and the first thing I did on the ice was fall," added the Spaniard of his tumble in the warm-up.

Fernandez, 24, stumbled out of his opening quad jump in his Spanish-themed Malaguena routine performed by Paco de Lucia and Placido Domingo but otherwise gave a strong performance.

"It's going to be really hard to get those points but I'll try my best," said Fernandez. "I know he's really consistent."

Former three-time world champion and reigning Olympic silver medalist Patrick Chan is sitting last in the six-skater field.

The 24-year-old, returning to competition after taking last season off, did not nail a quad in his skate to Michael Buble's 'Mack the Knife'.

"Every competition is a free start, so I'll show what I can do in the free program," said the Canadian.

-- Russians lead pairs --

Earlier Russia's Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov gave a flawless acrobatic display to take top spot after the pairs short program.

The Olympic silver medalists hit all their required elements to Annie Lennox's “I Put a Spell on You”.

They scored 74.84 to open up a 1.20 lead on fellow Russians Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov (73.64) going into Friday's free skating final.

World champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada are third (72.74), after Duhamel tumbled on their final throw triple lutz jump.

The Canadians won the Grand Prix Final title for the first time in Barcelona last year and are among the favorites after winning both their Grand Prix assignments this season at Skate Canada and the NHK Trophy in Japan.

"Clearly it wasn't our best skate," said Duhamel, 30, after their performance to Elton John's 'Your Song'.

"It (the fall) was a complete fluke. It has never happened to us before in the short program and it will never happen again."

-- Asada bids for fifth title --

Three-time world champion Mao Asada of Japan opens her bid for a record fifth women's crown in Friday's short program.

A win would see Asada, the 2010 Olympic silver medalist, overtake Russia's Irina Slutskaya for the most wins after 2005, 2008, 2012 and 2013.

The 25-year-old's challengers include Japan's world silver medalist Satoko Miyahara, Americans Gracie Gold and Ashley Wagner, and Russia's Evgenia Medvedeva and Elena Radionova.