Japanese figure skater Nobunari Oda placed second with an impressive short program at the world junior championships on Friday.
Oda, who topped the men's field in the qualifying round, skated nearly flawlessly to the tune of "Super Mario" and earned a personal-best 64.33 points from the judges, 0.57 behind leader Yannick Ponsero of France. Russian Sergei Dobrin was third with 60.18 and Japan's Yasuharu Nanri was fourth with 59.60.
"I'm surprised at myself and it was my best performance of the season," said 17-year-old national junior champion Oda, who is a descendant of 16th-century Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga.