Takuro Oda placed ninth in the men's 1,500 meters on a disappointing day for Japan at the World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships on Friday.

Oda had a time of 1 minute, 47.68 seconds, while Russia's Denis Yuskov cruised to victory in 1:44.13 and became the first male speed skater to win three consecutive world titles in the 1,500. Kjeld Nuis took the silver in 1:45.66 and fellow Dutchman Thomas Krol won the bronze in 1:45.75.

"I skated as well as I could," the 23-year-old Oda said. "My target was to finish in the top eight. I was one step short of that and that disappoints me."