Keiichiro Nagashima finished runnerup in the men's 500 meters en route to second place in the overall standings after two races at the world sprint speed skating championships on Saturday.
Nagashima clocked 35.01 seconds to finish just behind South Korea's Lee Kyou Hyuk and timed 1:09.41 to take fourth in the 1,000 meters won by American Shani Davis in 1:08.84.
Seeking his third straight overall title, Lee, fifth in the 1,000, tops the standings after two of four races with 69.695 points, followed by Nagashima with 69.715. Dutchman Simon Kuipers placed third with 69.905 after finishing sixth and second in the 500 and 1,000, respectively.
Tadashi Obara stood in 13th at the halfway point while Takaharu Nakajima was 20th.
Nagashima said he was disappointed with his skate and hoped to get faster times when the 500 and 1,000 are repeated Sunday to determine the overall champions.
"The other skaters didn't do as well as I thought they would and that made me look good," said Nagashima. "I am not skating like I can. If my times are the same on the last day then I will get left behind."