French skaters Kévin Amoz and Adam Siao Him Fa took the last two places in the short program, won by American prodigy Ilia Malinin, during the Grand Prix final on Thursday in Beijing.
Victorious at the French Grand Prix in Angers then during the Cup of China and reigning European champion, Siao Him Fa was penalized by technical errors, particularly from his first jump.
With 88.36 points, he finished in sixth and last place in the short program, ahead of his compatriot Kévin Amoz (93.20), who was on the podium twice this season.
While he had real ambitions for this final, Siao Him Fa showed, before the free program, which will determine the final ranking, an undoubtedly crippling delay over the young American Ilia Malinin, who flew through the short program with a total of 106 .90 points. He notably performed the very difficult quadruple axel, which earned him the nickname “Quadgod”.
The bronze medalist at the Worlds in March, aged 19, is ahead of a Japanese trio made up of defending champion Shoma Uno (106.02), Olympic vice-champion Yuma Kagiyama (103.72) and Kao Miura (94.86 ).
Ranking at the end of the men’s short program:
1 Ilia MALININ (USA) 106.90 points
2 Shoma UNO (JPN) 106.02
3 Yuma KAGIYAMA (JPN) 103.72
4 As MIURA (JPN) 94.86
5 Kevin AYMOZ (FRA) 93.20
6 Adam SIAO HIM FA (FRA) 88.36
