Japanese teenager Yuzuru Hanyu broke the world record of three-times world champion skater Patrick Chan to top the short program at the Grand Prix Final on Thursday, ending the Canadian's all-conquering run in the Olympic season.
After nailing an opening quadruple jump, Hanyu flawlessly landed an triple axel and a triple-triple combination while hitting a maximum level-four in two spins and one step sequence to earn 99.84 points, skating to "Parisian Walkways" by Gary Moore.
Chan broke his own short program world mark to score 98.52 three weeks ago at the Grand Prix in Paris, the Trophee Eric Bompard.
But he put one hand on the ice on Thursday and almost fell on a triple axel after landing an opening quadruple-triple combination.
The 22-year-old doubled a triple lutz and stepped out in landing. But his level-four performances in three spins and one step sequence helped him finish second with 87.47 points.
Japan's Nobunari Oda placed third with 80.94 points going into the title-deciding free skate on Friday.
The final has brought together the top six finishers in each category in the Grand Prix season. Each skater was allowed to compete in just two of the season's six Grand Prix events.
"I am really surprised by the score," said Hanyu, who finished second behind Chan in their Grand Prix battles, Skate Canada and Trophee Eric Bompard.
"I did a great quadruple and my axel and lutz both went well," said the Japanese, who turns 19 on Saturday.
"But I stumbled and wobbled in steps and spins in the final stage as I lost my concentration. I really regret it. I will just refocus for tomorrow while celebrating what I could do today."
Chan, chasing the first men's figure skating gold medal for Canada, was beaten for the first time in any section of the Grand Prix tour this season.
"When you achieved close to perfection like I did in Paris, it's hard to do it again," said Chan, who broke the world best scores in the short program, the free skate and the overall total in Paris.
Japan's Olympic silver medallist Mao Asada led the women's short program although she remained erratic with her trademark triple axel, the difficult 3.5-revolution jump attempted only by the two-times former world champion.
She under-rotated her opening triple axel but nailed a triple flip and a triple-double combination to earn 72.36 points, followed by Russia's 17-year-old Adelina Sotnikova at 68.38 and US national champion Ashley Wagner at 68.14.
