SAITAMA, Japan, March 21 -- Nathan Chen of the United States delivered a clean short program on Thursday's Saitama Worlds and earned a stunning 107.40 to take the lead.

The defending champion was the only skater to break 100 points in the night and he was nearly 11 points clear of second-placed Jason Brown, also from American and nearly 13 ahead of home favorite Yuzuru Hanyu, who earned 94.87.

"I like to tell myself that everything I've done in the past, whether good or bad, stays in the past. And so coming into these Worlds was no different than coming into any other Worlds despite having the success that I had at last Worlds," said the defending champion.

"I'm happy with the way I performed and I'm going to use what I did today to build the confidence for Saturday."

The men's free skate will take place on Saturday.

China's Jin, two-time world bronze medallist, slipped in his quad lutz and only scored 84.26.

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