NAGOYA, Japan (AP) -- Evgeni Plushenko, a 17-year-old Russian, performed a solid short program with a quadruple jump Friday and took the lead at the NHK Trophy, the final Grand Prix event of the season.
In the women's short program, Russian Victoria Voltchkova was the leader, ahead of world champion Maria Butyrskaya, also of Russia, and Elena Liashenko of Ukraine.Butyrskaya fell during a combination of jumps midway through her otherwise graceful performance.
In the pairs short program, France's Sarah Abitbol and Stephane Bernadis were in the lead, ahead of Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov of Russia, and Dorota Zagorska and Mariusz Siudek of Poland.
Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat of France led after the original ice dance program, followed by the Russian duo of Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh, and the Lithuanian team of Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas.
Saturday's free programs will decide the winners of the men's, pairs and ice dance events. The women's free program is Sunday.
Defending NHK Trophy champion Plushenko landed a triple axel-triple toe loop sequence followed by a double axel and drew 5.8 technical points from all nine judges.
Plushenko came to this event after winning his second Grand Prix title of the year, at the Cup of Russia.
American Timothy Goebel, who landed three quadruple jumps at Skate America, was in second place.
Goebel started his program with a quadruple salchow, followed by a triple axel-triple toe loop combination and a double axel.
The Grand Prix series final will be at Lyon, France, Jan. 14-16. The NHK Trophy is the final opportunity for skaters to qualify for that competition
The top six scorers in the men's and women's events qualify, along with the top five couples in the pairs and ice dancing events.