Mao Asada got off to a slow start to in her Grand Prix campaign at Skate Canada on Friday after a series of mistakes on jumps saw her finish third in the women's short program.
Mao Asada performs during the short program at Skate Canada on Friday night in Quebec City. She is in
third place heading into Saturday's free skate.
AP PHOTOAsada, who leads the world rankings, put her hand on the ice after a combination jump and failed to make a clean landing on a triple lutz in a routine that earned her 58.08 points.
Laura Lepisto of Finland took the lead ahead of Saturday's free skate by scoring 59.18, followed by American Emily Hughes with 58.72.
Yukari Nakano and Japanese compatriot Nana Takeda, making her debut in the GP series, placed fourth and sixth with 55.94 and 52.02, respectively.
"I felt quite uneasy skating in my first competition of the new season," Asada said. "It was a poor performance overall, not only on jumps but in most other departments. I kept on skating until the end trying to forget about the mistakes on the jumps."
The 17-year-old, who made a sensational debut on the international senior circuit two seasons ago, lacked speed in her step sequences while her spins had the lowest difficulty level.
Nakano, winner of the Winter Asian Games in February, took a fall on her triple lutz and will now have an uphill task in the free skate.
"It was my first competition since the world championships (in March), making me very nervous, and I felt tight while skating through my program and the timing was off on my jumps," Nakano said.