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| | Thursday, February 24 | ||||||
OSAKA, Japan -- Canadian champions Jamie Sale and David Pelletier won their first significant international title Thursday, edging Americans Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman to win pairs at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.
Sale and Pelletier, in just their second season together, received a perfect 6.0 mark and five 5.9s for artistry in their free skate program. They also topped the field in Wednesday's short program.
In their only flaw, Sale two-footed a jump midway through the routine, worth two-thirds of the total score. "I didn't really feel at ease," Sale said. "Even last night, it went very easy. This time, I was really trying to think, I don't know why. But that's OK, we are saving it for worlds."The world championships are later this month in Nice, France. Ina and Zimmerman, who won the U.S. title two weeks ago, were shaky at the start when Zimmerman fell on a jump and later Ina landed a shaky triple. But the pair, also in its second season together, quickly regained sharpness and got the audience into the rest of the performance."It was not the one we had at nationals, which is one we were hoping to kind of replicate," said Zimmerman. "But we still were able to get through the program fine. "I think having the nationals just a couple of weeks ago took kind of a little bit out of us. But I think we are pretty good with it."Another American pair, Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn, surged from fourth to third place, past Canada's Kristy Sargeant and Kris Wirtz. "We made it through. My back is a little bit sore today, but it's OK," Scott said. "Last year we placed sixth in this competition, so we worked very hard this year, and I guess it shows. It was a good practice for worlds." In the women's short program, Canadian Annie Bellmare gave a solid and graceful performance to take the lead ahead of American rivals Angela Nikodinov and Stacey Pensgen. "I have been working real hard all week long, and I am very happy with what I did," Bellmare said. "I did kind of the best I could." Japan's Fumie Suguri placed fourth, followed by defending champion Tatyana Malinina, who made two major mistakes that included an incomplete combination jump early in her program. Shaken, Malinina later came up short on one of her spins, doing seven rather than the required eight. The free program is on Friday. In fifth place, however, Malinina is virtually out of contention for the gold medal."It was a very bad program," said Malinina, who has yet to win this season. "I don't know why, it just happened. I had (foot) surgery one month ago, and my doctor said it needs some time." The five-day championships, the second annual event open to skaters from countries outside Europe - which has its own championship - carries a $503,800 total prize, with $22,000 each to the winners of the women's and men's singles. In ice dancing and the pairs events, each gold-medal couple will receive $33,000.The 87 skaters who came from 12 countries include defending champion Takeshi Honda of Japan in the men's event, which begins Saturday.
Honda will be challenged by last year's silver medalist Li Chengjian of China, five-time U.S. champion Todd Eldredge and three-time world champion Elvis Stojko of Canada.
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