Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu will seek to claim his second world title ©Getty Images

Reigning Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu will begin as the overwhelming favourite to claim the men’s title at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Figure Skating Championships in Boston, which begin on March 30.

The Japanese star will head into the competition as the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final winner, having become the first skater in history to achieve more than 300 points at an event, when he scored a personal best of 330.43 in Barcelona.

Having been forced to settle for second at the 2015 World Championships, Hanyu will look to reclaim the title he won for the only time back in 2014.

Defending champion Javier Fernandez will begin as his biggest rival, with the Spaniard having become the second man to breach the 300 point barrier, by scoring 302.77 to win the European title in Bratislava during January.

Four Continents champion Patrick Chan of Canada and Kazakhstan’s Denis Ten will be expecting to challenge for podium positions.

Despite 2015 winner Elizaveta Tuktamysheva missing the Championships after a difficult season, Russian skaters will still be expected to dominate the ladies’ competition.

Evgenia Medvedeva will begin as the favourite to claim victory, with the European champion and Grand Prix Final winner having achieved a season best tally of 222.54 points.

Her team-mate Elena Radionova will also be a major contender after earning European silver with 211.32 points, although Japan’s Satoko Miyahara could pose a threat to the Russians as she seeks to improve on her World Championship silver medal in 2015.

Russia's Evgenia Medvedeva will begin as the favourite for the ladies title
Russia's Evgenia Medvedeva will begin as the favourite for the ladies title ©Getty Images

Both the individual competitions will see the victors claim a top prize of $45,000 (£32,000/€40,000), while the pairs and ice dance champions will be awarded $67,500 (£47,000/€60,000).

Canada’s Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford will hope to successfully defend their pairs crown, but will face strong competition from Russia’s Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov.

The second Russian pairing of Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov have the highest season’s best score, having achieved a total of 222.66 points.

Maia and Alex Shibutani will hope to deliver home success in the ice dance competition, but the Four Continents champions will have to fight off the challenge of Canada’s Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje.

France’s Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron will begin as the defending champions.