Patrick Chan won the short programme in front of a home crowd ©Getty Images

Home favourite Patrick Chan made a strong start to the Skate Canada International after winning the men’s short programme event at the Hershey’s Centre in Toronto.

The Canadian skater missed a triple axel early in his routine but impressed with a triple Lutz and two level four spins to secure a score of 90.56 points.

"Today felt good energy, a lot of excitement, lot of adrenalin rushing through the body after landing the opening jump," said the three-time world champion.

"The axel just kind of got away from me.

"I felt very good with the footwork, everything else felt really clean."

Chan heads the standings after the short programme as he aims to win his sixth Skate Canada International gold, with the competition forming part of the International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating season.

Takahito Mura of Japan and Canada’s Kevin Reynolds complete the top three positions after scoring 81.24 and 80.57 points respectively.

Japan's reigning Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu lies fourth, with a missed quadruple loop being key to him only scoring 79.65 points.

Russia's Evgenia Medvedeva leads the women's event at the halfway stage ©Getty Images
Russia's Evgenia Medvedeva leads the women's event at the halfway stage ©Getty Images

Canada’s Kaetlyn Osmond occupies second place after the women’s short programme drew to a close, with the local skater scoring a personal best 74.33 points.

It saw her split Russia’s world champion Evgenia Medvedeva and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva in the top three positions, with the former topping the standings with a personal best score of 76.24 points.

Tuktamysheva, the 2015 world champion, was awarded 66.79 points for her routine.

Canada look poised for success in the pairs and ice dance competitions, with their skaters currently leading both events after the short programmes.

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford lead the pairs event, with the reigning world champions achieving a personal best of 78.39 points to get the competition underway in style.

China’s Xiaoyu Yu and Hao Zhang are second in the standings on 69.43 points, while the second Canadian pairing of Canada’s Liubov Iliushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch complete the top three on 67.53.

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir continued the Canadian challenge in the ice dance, the duo scoring 77.23 points to lead.

World Championship bronze medallists Madison Chock and Evan Bates are second on 76.21 points, with the Americans lying ahead of Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who have 72.12.

All four competitions are due to draw to a close tomorrow.