HKT48's debut single "Suki! Suki! Skip!" (released on March 20) sold 250,000 copies during the first week, and topped Oricon weekly single ranking for April 1st.

This is the best first week sales for a female artist's debut single, and HKT48 has broken the previous record of 218,000 copies which was achieved by NMB48 with their debut single "Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo" (released in July 2011).

They are also the 4th female group to top the chart with the debut song followed by PASSPO?, T-ARA, and NMB48.

The oldest member of the group, Sashihara Rino commented, "I'm surprised and also very happy. I feel honored that many people listened to our song. Since we just made our debut, and still have a long way to go, we would like to try our best altogether to catch up with our senior groups."

Tashima Meru who served as the center, also said, "This tells us that many people recognized HKT48, so I am really happy. With all HKT48 members together, we would like to continue doing our best so that even more people would recognize us."

Source & Image: Oricon