Miura Riku (L)/Kihara Ryuichi of Japan perform during the pairs free skating at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, March 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)
SAITAMA, Japan, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won Japan's first pairs title at the World Figure Skating Championships here on Thursday.
Miura and Kihara, who took the lead after the short program with a personal best of 80.72 points on Wednesday, beat defending champions Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier in the free skate, scoring 141.44 for a total of 222.16.
Knierim and Frazier finished second on 217.48 and Italy's Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii collected 208.08 to win the bronze, the first ever pairs medal for their country at the World Championships.
31-year-old Kihara was emotional after helping the hosts make another historic achievement, adding that he hopes to encourage more Japanese children to take up the sport.
"We are proud of ourselves," he said. "Hopefully today will be a turning point for Japanese pairs."
After coming second in last year's World Championships, they defeated Knierim and Frazier in the Grand Prix Final to win Japan's first-ever pairs gold at the event, and went on to take gold at this year's Four Continents Championships. ■
Miura Riku (R)/Kihara Ryuichi of Japan perform during the pairs free skating at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, March 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)
Miura Riku (R)/Kihara Ryuichi of Japan perform during the pairs free skating at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, March 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)
Miura Riku (L)/Kihara Ryuichi of Japan perform during the pairs free skating at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, March 23, 2023. (Photo by Pablo Morano/Xinhua)
Miura Riku (L)/Kihara Ryuichi of Japan perform during the pairs free skating at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, March 23, 2023. (Photo by Pablo Morano/Xinhua)
Miura Riku (bottom)/Kihara Ryuichi of Japan perform during the pairs free skating at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, March 23, 2023. (Photo by Pablo Morano/Xinhua)
Miura Riku (top)/Kihara Ryuichi of Japan perform during the pairs free skating at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, March 23, 2023. (Photo by Pablo Morano/Xinhua)
Miura Riku (top)/Kihara Ryuichi of Japan perform during the pairs free skating at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, March 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)
Miura Riku (top)/Kihara Ryuichi of Japan perform during the pairs free skating at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, March 23, 2023. (Photo by Pablo Morano/Xinhua)
