OSAKA, Japan -- Gracie Gold of the United States took the lead after the short program at the NHK Trophy on Friday, boosting her chances of qualifying for the Grand Prix Final.
Skating to ''Adagio,'' the U.S. champion hit all her jumps to score 68.16 points and finish ahead of Alena Leonova of Russia, who had 68.11. Kanako Murakami of Japan was third with 64.38 points.
''I skated a really nice short program,'' Gold said. ''I'm happy because I made a lot mistakes at Skate America. I had solid jumps and spins today and want the same consistency tomorrow.''
Gold is vying for one of two open spots for next month's GP Final in Barcelona. She earned a bronze medal at Skate America last month.
''I think there are positives and negatives in qualifying for the GP Final,'' Gold said. ''When you consider the U.S. Nationals are in January, it kind of interrupts your schedule for that but of course it means you have done very well.''
The men's short program is later Friday.
In pairs, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada finished first in the short program with 72.70 points. Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov of Russia were second with 64.60 points and world junior champions Xiaoyu Yu and Yang Jin of China were third with 60.15.
