Ando tumbles to 4th at NHK Trophy

Reigning world champion Miki Ando had a meltdown in the free skate and finished in a disappointing fourth place while Italy's Carolina Kostner held her lead to win the NHK Trophy on Saturday. Kostner took her first NHK title with a total score of 164.69 while second place went to Sarah Meier of Switzerland (163.17). Ando fell on her very first jump — a triple lutz — and things snowballed from there as she was unable to concentrate. She tumbled on the ice two more times and could manage a total of just 145.81.

Earlier in men's action, Daisuke Takahashi made a faulty start in defense of his title, placing second after the short program. Takahashi touched his hand on the ice on a triple axel and faltered with a wobbly spin to finish behind Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic with a score of 77.89 points. Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France won the ice dance competition.