China's Shen and Zhao Win NHK Trophy Pairs

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, November 30, 2002

China's Shen and Zhao Win NHK Trophy Pairs

World champions Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China won their third Grand Prix event of the season by retaining their pairs title at the NHK Trophy in Kyoto, Japan on Friday.

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Shen and Zhao Win NHK Trophy Pairs

World champions Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China won their third Grand Prix event of the season by retaining their pairs title at the NHK Trophy in Kyoto, Japan on Friday.

Shen and Zhao, winners in Germany and Russia, clinched victory in the free skating final ahead of Poland's Dorota Zagorska and Mariusz Siudek in the last round of the six-leg Grand Prix qualifying series.

Canadians Anabelle Langlois and Patrice Archetto came a surprise third after beating 2000 world champions Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov of Russia into fourth.

In the women's event Japan dominated the field as Russia's world champion Irina Slutskaya ended her short program with a modest fourth place.

Yoshie Onda, 19, who clinched a Grand Prix gold in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, earlier this month, put up a powerful performance to outshine 20-year-old fellow Japanese Shizuka Arakawa, who ranked second going into Saturday's free skating final.

Another local hope, Fumie Suguri, the 21-year-old 2002 world bronze medallist, placed third after failing to land a combination of jumps.

Meanwhile Russian ice dancing duo Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh, the world gold and Olympic silver medallists, maintained their lead after Friday's original dance.

Kati Winkler and Rene Lohse of Germany rose to second from third after the original dance, outperforming world bronze medallists Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski of Israel, who sank to third.

Final standings will be decided after the crucial free dance performances on Saturday.

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