Chinese win pairs at Four Continents

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-07 15:46

VANCOUVER -- China's Pang Qing and Tong Jian skated a near-flawless performance to win the pairs title at the Four Continents on Thursday.

China's Pang Qing and Tong Jian compete in the Pairs Free Skate during the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Vancouver, British Columbia February 5, 2009. The couple placed first in the competition. [Agencies]

Now four-time winners of the event, Pang and Tong included a couple of huge lifts and throws to score 194.94 in the free skate. The only noticeable mistake for the 2006 world champions was being slightly out of sync on a side-by-side spin.

"Before we came to this event we were very excited about it, especially knowing it's going to be the venue for the 2010 Winter Olympics," Tong said. "We tried to live up to the expectations and we were able to do that, and we're very happy with our performance."

Canada's Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison took silver, skating a strong performance to "Carmen" to earn a total of 185.62.

China's Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao were third with 174.98.

All three American couples struggled. Two-time US champions Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker were fifth, followed by Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett, and veterans Rena Inoue and John Baldwin.

Winners of the Pairs stand on the podium at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Vancouver, British Columbia February 5, 2009. China's Pang Qing and Tong Jian (C) were first, while compatriots Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao (R) finished third and Canada's Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison (L) second. [Agencies]

Patrick Chan of Canada nearly set a record for the men's short program. The 18-year-old scored 88.90 points, the second highest since the new judging system was introduced in 2003. Russian Evgeni Plushenko scored the highest, 90.66 at the 2006 Olympics en route to a gold medal.

American Evan Lysacek was second with 81.65 points, while Takahiko Kozuka of Japan took third with 76.61.

In ice dancing, Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir were poised to capture their second consecutive Four Continents title. They scored 60.90 points for their original dance to the Charleston, and carry a total 97.30 points into Friday's free dance.

American champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White, who train with Virtue and Moir, scored 60.42 to remain second at 95.65. Americans Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates were third at 90.89.