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China takes lead in Four Continents skating event

Meryl Davis, left, and Charlie White of the US perform during the Ice Dancing Compulsory Dance event at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2008 in Goyang, South Korea, on Tuesday. Davis and White took second place in the event. PHOTO: AFP

China's Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao took the lead in the pairs short program on the first day of the Four Continents figure skating event in South Korea yesterday, relegating compatriots Pang Qing and Tong Jian to second.

The annual event is preparation for this year's World Championships in Sweden in March, and as expected the Chinese couples dominated.

Pang and Tong threw down the gauntlet early, with the 2006 world champions recording a season best segment score of 67.70.

It wasn't enough as the unrelated Zhangs, dancing to B. Yao's Piano Fantasy, squeezed into top spot with a score of 70.45.

The pair scored well with a Throw Triple Loop early in their routine to earn the appreciation of spectators and judges in Goyang, a new city 20km northwest of the capital Seoul.

The 2005 Four Continent winners feel that there is more to come in the free skating segment on Thursday.

"I was wearing new skates which felt a little uncomfortable," Zhang Hao said. "Tomorrow is a big challenge for us but we will aim to finish in first position."

Zhang Dan, his female partner, said they were satisfied with the performance.

"This season we have appeared in lots of events and became a little tired in the second half of the performance," Zhang Dan said. "There are some elements that we can improve tomorrow."

The 2006 winners Rena Inoue and John Baldwin of the US placed third with a score of 57.40.

Earlier in the day, Canadian couple Tessa Virtue and Scott Muir led the way after the compulsory dance segment of the Ice Dancing competition, scoring 38.25.

Meryl Davis and Charlie White are in second with 37.36 while fellow Americans Kimberley Navarro and Brent Bommentre are in third place having skated 34.36.

The Four Continents event is open to any non-European member nations of the International Skating Union.

The men's short program event was to start later yesterday, with the ladies' event today.
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