Japanese figure skater Kazuki Tomono delivered his best short program in more than three years as Skate America opened Friday night, giving him the lead over Kevin Aymoz of France and Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov heading into the free skate.

Jason Brown of the U.S. was fifth behind Italy's Daniel Grassl in his first Grand Prix event of the season.

In the pairs competition, Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava continued their fast rise through the world ranks with a near-perfect program set to the figure skating staple “Bolero,” helping them to build a solid lead over Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara.

The 27-year-old Tomono, who is trying to earn one of Japan's spots at the Winter Olympics in February, was solid from his opening quad toe-triple toe combo through his quad salchow and tri

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