Updated

OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (AP) Javier Fernandez earned a personal-best score to lead the short program on Friday and stay on track for a fifth straight European figure skating title.

Skating to ''Malaguena'' performed by Paco de Lucia and Placido Domingo, Fernardez's opening quad toe loop-triple toe loop was perfect, and so was the following quad salchow and triple axel.

The two-time world champion's 104.25 points have him an almost 10-point lead over Maxim Kovtun.

The Russian, who was second in 2015 and third last year at the continental championships, nailed a quad salchow-triple toe loop to score 94.53, also his personal best.

Last year's silver medalist, Alexei Bychenko of Israel, finished third.