NAGANO, Japan � Brian Joubert of France won the NHK Trophy on Saturday with a strong performance in the men�s free skate.

Joubert, who was first after the short program, landed a quadruple toe loop at the start of his routine to solidify his lead and finished with 232.70 points for a 15-point margin over Johnny Weir of the United States. Michal Brezina of the Czech Republic was third with 217.48 points.
Joubert tripled a planned quad salchow for his second element did a triple toe loop instead of a quad later in his routine.
�I want to show that I am not just a jumper but a figure skater,� Joubert said. �My goal was to do three quads but I also wanted to show good choreography and good steps.�
Joubert, the 2007 world champion, finished fourth at the Trophee Bompard in Paris, but improved his chances of qualifying for the Dec. 3-6 Grand Prix final.
American Jeremy Abbott, second after the short program, had a disastrous free skate and finished in fifth place with 208.45 points.
Weir started off strong with a triple flip and a triple axel, triple toe loop combination but lost stamina as the program went on.
He doubled a planned triple toe loop and failed to do the double toe loop on the next two combination jumps.
�In the Olympic season I wanted to show a program that is pure and from the heart,� Weir said. �I was happy that I was able to do that today.�
Brezina was the world junior silver medalist last season and made the podium in his senior Grand Prix debut.
�I wanted to skate a clean program as I am a new face in the senior GP series,� Brezina said. �I was happy to do that today and finish on the podium.�
Japan�s Daisuke Takahashi, who is making a comeback after knee surgery, finished fourth with 214.29 points. Takahashi stumbled on his opening quad toe loop and fell on two elements after that.
�I was a bit tired and nervous. My mental toughness was low,� Takahashi said. �I need more practice to improve my stamina.�