Shizuka Arakawa and Miki Ando produced the best performances for host Japan in the women's competition to place second and third, respectively, behind reigning world champion Irina Slutskaya of Russia at the Japan International Challenge on Saturday.
Arakawa collected 110.87 points to finish ahead of Ando, who scored 97.19 points after bailing on an attempt of a quadruple jump at Higashifushimi Ice Arena. Slutskaya took the top honors with 115.11. In the men's competition, world silver medalist Jeffrey Buttle of Canada won with a mark of 143.27, followed by Daisuke Takahashi (133.57) and Japanese compatriot Nobunari Oda (130.76) in second and third. Takeshi Honda came sixth.