Figure skating: Suguri wins national title, Olympic berth
December 25, 2005Fumie Suguri clinched a spot for the Winter Olympic Games in Turin after coming from behind to win her fifth title and first in three years at the figure skating national championships Sunday, edging teenage sensation Mao Asada with a solid free skate. Suguri earned the highest mark in the free skate on her way to a winning total of 194.16 points at Yoyogi national gymnasium and later made the list of skaters bound for Turin along with former world champion Shizuka Arakawa and popular teenager Miki Ando.
Horse racing: Heart's Cry upsets Deep Impact at Arima Kinen
December 25, 2005Heart's Cry stole the show from triple crown winner Deep Impact on Sunday with a superb tactical ride by French jockey Christophe Lemaire, handing the overwhelming favorite his first defeat in eight career starts at the Arima Kinen. Fourth pick Heart's Cry stormed down the final stretch and beat a charging but tiring Deep Impact by half a length at the wire at Nakayama Racecourse in Chiba Prefecture in the final Grade One race of the year in Japanese horse racing.
Figure skating: Takahashi wins, Arakawa tops women's SP
December 25, 2005Daisuke Takahashi came from behind to win his first national title at senior level after the men's free skate on Saturday, edging out fellow former world junior champion Nobunari Oda in a twist of fate brought about by a judging mistake. Earlier in the women's short program, former world champion Shizuka Arakawa grabbed the lead with a technically superb routine, while teenage sensation Mao Asada botched a jump and placed third.