Virtue, Moir trail after short dance at Grand Prix Final

Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are in unfamiliar territory at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Nagoya, Japan.

Rather than leading the pack following Thursday's short dance competition, the duo are in second place heading into Friday's free dance.

• PREVIEW | Virtue & Moir have edge in ice GP Final showdown
• WATCH LIVE | Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final

French skaters Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron are in first place with a score of 82.07, while Virtue and Moir have 81.53 – trailing the leaders by 0.54 points.

Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir in 2nd after short dance at Grand Prix Final

7 years ago

Duration 6:46

The Canadians trail French skaters Gabriella Papdakis and Guillaume Cizeron by 0.54 points at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan

"The plan is to peak in February [at the Olympics] and we are on track,'' Virtue said. "Our performance was a step up from what we did this season on the Grand Prix circuit."

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir 'on track' at ISU Grand Prix Final

7 years ago

Duration 0:50

The Canadian duo sit in second place following the short dance, at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan

The ice dance competition wraps with the free dance on Saturday (3:55 a.m. ET, CBCSports.ca).

"Hopefully we can have another great skate Saturday and build our confidence for the Olympics," said Moir.

In pairs action, Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford are in fifth place after the short program.

Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford in 5th after pairs short skate

7 years ago

Duration 6:44

Mistakes on their side-by-side triple Lutz and throw triple Lutz cost the Canadian duo in the pairs short program, at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan

Germany's Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot hold the lead with a score of 79.43, followed by Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of Russia (78.83), and China's Wenjing Sui and Cong Han (75.82).

Duhamel and Radford sit 7.25 points behind the Germans, picking up 72.18 points for their routine, which included a mistake on their side-by-side triple Lutz and throw triple Lutz.

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford comment on their 'nervous' short skate

7 years ago

Duration 1:01

The Canadian duo discuss the 'bobbles' that cost them points, as they finished the pairs short program in fifth place, at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan

"The throw was a little bit stuck on take-off which resulted in not the same flow when I came out,'' Duhamel said. "Still, we were committed to our performance and we felt pretty good about it."

Chen in prime position

On the men's side, American Nathan Chen has the lead after the short, scoring 103.32 to lead his closest competitors, Shoma Uno of Japan (101.51) and Mikhail Colyada of Russia (99.22).

Skating to "Nemesis," the American opened with a quad lutz, triple toe loop combination and added a quad flip and a triple axel for 103.32 points.

"I made a couple of mistakes on the landing of both quads," Chen said. "But the triple axel was improved from Skate America so I am happy with that and looking forward to tomorrow."​

Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu is still recovering from a leg injury sustained during practice at last month's NHK Trophy and is not competing.