Takahashi wins figure skating GP despite fall

Japan's former figure skating world champion Daisuke Takahashi crashed attempting a historic quadruple flip Sunday, but recovered to win the NHK Trophy and earn a place in the Grand Prix final. He under-rotated the planned jump and fell on the ice in his opening element, but picked himself up to outshine the rest in both technical execution and artistry in the men's final free skate at the season's fourth GP. If the Vancouver Olympic bronze medallist had landed it, he would have been the first skater ever to succeed in the four-revolution flip in competition. Takahashi, who failed to retain his world title in March and opened his Grand Prix season with a third-place finish at Skate Canada two weeks ago, also dominated Saturday's short programme with his personal record of 90.43 points. Going out with a 10.66-point lead over teammate Takashiko Kozuka, black-clad Takahashi skated to "Blues for Klook" by Eddy Louiss in his first blues-themed routine, nailing seven other jumps and hitting a maximum level-four in two spins. He collected 169.32 points for the free skate, which combined with his short-programme score to make him the winner by an impressive margin of 24.73 points on 259.75. Kozuka, last season's world championship silver medallist, finished second on 235.02 and American Rose Miner jumped to third spot from sixth overnight on 212.36 to lift his first-ever Grand Prix medal. "For the first time in my life, I could nail a quad flip in the six-minute warm-up," the 25-year-old Takahashi said. "But in the real competition I overstrained myself in landing and crashed. It still feels great now that I know how I could do it." Takahashi also attempted a quad flip but under-rotated it when he became the first Japanese men's world champion in March 2010. But he avoided it at Skate Canada and in the NHK short programme, playing it safe. "Both my quad toeloop and flip are getting better and I'll work hard to make them stable so I can use either of them at the Grand Prix final," he said. The final -- to be held in Quebec City in Canada next month -- brings together the top six in the series. Each skater can compete in two of the six GP events. Quadruple toeloops and salchows have been commonplace since 1988 when Canadian Kurt Browning landed the first ratified quadruple, a toeloop. Among the five kinds of quadruple jumps, the lutz is rated as the most demanding and rewarded with the highest base points. The flip comes next. In the short programme, Brandon Mroz became the first skater to land a quad lutz in international competition after his success at a domestic US event last September. He went into the long programme from third spot. But the 20-year-old American fell down after an under-rotated quad flip at the start of his free skate and made several more jumping mistakes to finish at the bottom of the nine-man field. "As I hear Mroz practices all kinds of quad, I also want to challenge them," Takahashi said. The high-yielding quadruple has become a staple in men's contests since the Vancouver Olympics, as the rules were changed to award more points for the high-octane jump and reduce the penalty for failing it. Kozuka, 20, who won two GP events last season, under-rotated a quad toeloop in his opening element in the free skate. "I have a lot to work on my skating skills," Kozuka said. "Mr. Takahashi is indeed consistent. He is excellent not only in jumping but also in his overall presence. That is what I lack."