American sensation Ilia Malinin, 18, flawless on opening night of Skate America

American figure skater Ilia Malinin began his Grand Prix season in a familiar place.

Right at the top of the standings at Skate America.

The 18-year-old from Fairfax, Virginia, began the defence of his title with a brilliant short program Friday night to put a huge gap between himself and the rest of the field. Malinin was flawless on his three jump sequences, including a difficult quad lutz-triple toe combination, to score 104.06 points and earn a huge ovation at Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas.

Kevin Aymoz of France was second with 97.34 points and Shun Sato of Japan third with 91.61 points.

"I mean, I'm still kind of in shock. I was not expecting that," said Malinin, who won both of his Grand Prix assignments in his senior debut last season. "Of course I was really prepared and in that zone. I was really glad I was able to do it."

Toronto's Stephen Gogolev sits seventh with 74.73 points.

In the pairs competition, Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel of Germany overcame her fall on the side-by-side triple salchow to score 63.59 points and take a slim lead over Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud of Canada.

The competition resumes Saturday with the men's and pairs free skates, the rhythm dance and the women's short program.

Malinin, the self-styled "quadg0d" on social media for his incredible leaping ability, spent most of the off-season working hard on his artistry. But the world bronze medalist showed Friday night that he can still do the jumps with uncanny ease.

Malinin began his short program, set to "Malaguena" by the Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona, with a quad toe loop in which he spun so fast he was a blur. Then came the quad lutz, the second-hardest jump behind the quad axel, and Malinin combined it with