Chiba Mone threw down the gauntlet to Milano Cortina 2026 gold-medal hopeful Sakamoto Kaori by comfortably winning the inaugural women’s Kinoshita Group Cup 2025 on Saturday (6 September) in Osaka.
Chiba held on to her short-program lead with a spick-and-span free skate of 143.48 for a 216.59 total – 13 points more than three-time world champion Sakamoto, who bounced back from a lukewarm fourth place in the shorts to finish runner-up on 203.64.
Twenty-two-year-old late-bloomer Miyake Saki was third (196.79) in her international debut.
Despite finishing ahead of Sakamoto in the Olympic season opener, Chiba was not basking in glory nor gloating over her new personal-best total score.
“I’m only thinking about beating myself in competitions,” the 20-year-old said. “I’m happy with the way things turned out but I’m not going to think too much about the result. I need to think about the next one.
“I’m happy about the score as well but the performance means more to me. I have to look back and see what went right and what didn’t and keep working hard.
“There is some joy but at the same time, I still feel like I have a long way to go.”
Much like the previous night, Sakamoto was not putting too much stock into the outcome. As a seasoned veteran, she seemed to already know why things turned out the way they did.
“I look back on my performance and the others’ and it’s clear to me that I practised too much at my own pace this summer,” the two-time Olympic medallist said.
“But this competition has kick-started things. The Grand Prix Series is next and I really need to work at it over the next month.
“Usually when the season starts, there’s a certain intensity I naturally feel even from practise. But I just didn’t have it in the build-up this time.
“I think with this, things will start to change.”
Bradie Tennell of the United States was the highest non-Japanese finisher at fifth (187.18) with Republic of Korea’s 2023 world silver medalist Lee Haein sliding into seventh (183.48).
Beijing 2022 Olympian Higuchi Wakaba slumped to 11th out of 14 (159.13). She complained of not feeling well afterwards and did not speak to the media.