Shen/Zhao Win China's First Pairs Gold at Worlds

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 21, 2002

Shen/Zhao Win China's First Pairs Gold at Worlds

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Shen/Zhao Win China's First Pairs Gold at Worlds

Olympic bronze medallists Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo Wednesday became China's first pairs world champions after finishing top place in the free skating at the World Figure Skating Championships in Nagano, Japan.

The pairs event was marred by mistakes of the top finishers while the women's qualifications featured top qualifying performances by Olympic rivals Michelle Kwan and Irina Slutskaya.

In the pairs, the Chinese duo had the top technical feats of the evening although Shen sprawled on a triple toe loop.

They had a high triple twist and two throws that covered a lot of ice. They had marks between 5.6 and 5.8 and had the first place votes of all nine judges.

Skating after them, European champions Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin had a chance to overtake them but he fell a triple jump attempt, only to settle for the silver.

American national champions Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman clinched the bronze medal although both hit the ice on different moves.

Women's event

In the women's event, Kwan had a nearly flawless routine, including a triple-triple combination, to earn top marks in her qualification group, worth 20 percent of the total score.

Olympic silver medalist Slutskaya of Russia, who has finished ahead of Kwan all four times they've met this year, won the second group, with American Sasha Cohen second.

Performing to "Scheherazade" as she did in Salt Lake City, Kwan did six triples with only a slight bobble to easily beat Japan's Fumie Suguri. American Jennifer Kirk, replacing Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes, was fourth.

Hughes has bypassed these world championships, finding little time to train after her victory in Salt Lake City.

Slutskaya won her groups with nearly the same type of marks as Kwan, mostly between 5.7 and 5.9 for her version of "Tosca".

Slutskaya did not attempt a triple-triple combination, but she didn't need it, completing five triples and scaling down one triple lutz to a double.

Cohen came in second behind Slutskaya, doing five triples to music from "Carmen." She attempted a triple-triple, but came up short. She also aborted a jump, doing just a single.

The women's short program, worth 30 percent, is on Friday, with the free skate Saturday, the last day of the championships.

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