Defending champion Kaori Sakamoto dazzled on the ice to win the women's short program at Japan's national figure skating championships on Thursday.Sakamoto, a Beijing Olympic bronze medalist who followed that by winning her first world title this year, brought the crowd to its feet at Osaka Prefecture's Towa Pharmaceutical RACTAB Dome with a powerful, energetic performance.The 22-year-old scored 77.79 points to take a 3.09 lead over short program runner-up Mai Mihara going into Saturday's free skate. Mihara is coming off her victory in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final two weeks ea…READ FULL ARTICLE
