The 2023/2024 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series comes to a close this weekend with the NHK Trophy in Osaka, Japan deciding the remaining spots for next month’s Grand Prix Final.

When is it on?

NHK Trophy begins Friday, 24 November with the rhythm dance and concludes Sunday, 26 November with the exhibition gala.

Who is skating?

Despite his loss at Cup of China, Shoma Uno (JPN) comes in as favourite to pick up a fourth NHK Trophy title. A minimum of another second place for the two-time World champion will seal his place at the Grand Prix Final. Yuma Kagiyama (JPN) made his return to the Grand Prix circuit in France and finished a very respectable third in what was a high calibre event. He too will be aiming for for silver at the very least. 2023 European bronze medallist Lukas Britschgi (SUI) was fourth behind Kagiyama in France and needs to win in order to have any chance at progression to the Grand Prix Final.

Nina Pinzarrone (BEL) was a surprise silver medallist at Grand Prix de France and a similar result could put her through to the Grand Prix Final. Mai Mihara (JPN) was forced to withdraw from Cup of China due to a persistent right ankle injury and will not be able to defend the Grand Prix Final title she won last season. However, the 2022 Four Continents champion is more than capable of playing spoiler in Osaka. While the rest of the field have not yet mounted a Grand Prix podium this season, European champion Anastasiia Gubanova (GEO), World silver medallists Wakaba Higuchi (JPN) and Haein Lee (KOR) and 2023 Four Continents silver medallist Yelim Kim (KOR) are likely to feature in the battle for medals.

Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin (GER) were surprise winners at last weekend’s Grand Prix Espoo and, despite having to compete on a different continent this weekend, the Germans are in a good position to qualify for the Grand Prix Final. Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini (ITA) took silver at Cup of China and would be satisfied with a similar result in Osaka. Lucrezia Beccari and Matteo Guarise (ITA) and Chelsea Liu and Balazs Nagy (USA) earned bronze medals at Skate Canada and Skate America respectively.

The ice dance event at NHK Trophy will serve as somewhat of a preview for the upcoming European Championships with the top four teams from the 2023 edition all competing. Barring disaster, Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (ITA) and Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson (GBR) should collect the remaining two spots for ice dance at the Grand Prix Final. Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius (LTU) and Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis (FIN) both have already taken bronze at their respective Grand Prix assignments and will likely be vying for bronze against each other in Osaka.

Everything you need to know (and some things you did not) about the skaters, the competition schedule and results can be viewed here.

When is the skating on?

Night time till the early hours in North America, morning till lunchtime in Europe and afternoon till evening in Asia. The times listed for NHK Trophy are local and if you want to know what the time difference is between where you are and Osaka then this link is your friend.

Where can I watch the pretty skaters?

This season’s NHK Trophy can be viewed on the Skating ISU YouTube channel. Geographic restrictions apply.

What are the hashtags?

#GPFigure #FigureSkating #NHK杯フィギュア