Japan's Hanyu qualifies for Beijing 2022, eyes third successive crown

SAITAMA, Japan - Japan's superstar skater Yuzuru Hanyu will fight for his third successive Olympic crown after winning his sixth national title and qualifying for the Beijing Olympic Winter Games here on Sunday.

The 27-year-old, competing in his first event in more than eight months, performed a long-awaited quadruple axel but landed with two feet. His fluent show in the free skate earned him 211.05 points, far ahead of second-placed Shoma Uno, a four-time national champion, who scored 193.94 points.

Hanyu, who led the short program two days ago, collected a total of 322.36 points to retain the title he won last year. He was also the winner for four years in a row from 2012 to 2015.

The Japanese national champion automatically secures a place for the Beijing Olympics, which begins on Feb 4. The Japanese national hero and gold medalist in Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018 proved he is still the man to watch despite ligament damage to his right ankle.

"I can finally breathe a sigh of relief," he said of the quadruple axel, adding that landing with two feet is a result he can "accept at the moment".

"I will continue the practise," he said. Asked if he would perform the quad axel again in Beijing, he simply said, "I will try my best."

Hanyu has been doing the legendary jump in practise over the past four days at Saitama's Super Arena, but has to wait for a completely successful landing in competition.

Uno, who took silver in PyeongChang, finished second with a total of 295.82 and Yuma Kagiyama, the world silver medalist this year, took third for the third time in as many years.