Ben Ferreira, Jayson Denommee and Emanuel Sandhu on Thursday skated into contention for top honors, finishing one-two-three respectively in the short program.

Ferreira, 21, delivered the best performance of the night, nailing every element in his routine, including a triple Axel-triple toe loop jump combination.

"Not only was it a good skating day, it was a good hair day," joked the amiable and perfectly coiffed Ferreira, minutes after grabbing the lead in the men's second round.

For the first time this year, Skate Canada welcomed all comers, forcing the introduction of a qualifying round to whittle the entry list down to a more manageable number.

Thirty-three men skated the Monday qualifier, worth 20 per cent of the final score, but just 24 will advance to the final freeskate on Saturday. Ferreira and Denommee were two of only a handful of contestants to demonstrate the killer instinct that will be need ed to wear the men's figure skating crown in Stojko's absence.

The 23-year-old Denommee, who was forced to withdraw from last year's event due to food poisoning, became the first Canadian male to land the seldom-seen triple Axel-triple loop jump combination.

Emanuel Sandhu, ranked second to Stojko three years running, came out flying, launching himself into a quadruple toe loop in the opening seconds.

Sandhu, 20, touched slightly with his free foot. It was a minor error but the situation deteriorated badly from there. Sandhu fell on his triple Axel and then singled out of the intended double Axel at the end.

"It's so stupid. I waited a little too long. It's consistent in practice," he said. "Now it's just adding in the factors -- nerves, audience, judges."

Canada has two men's berths for the 2001 World Championships in Vancouver in March. The national association is expected to hold one spot for Stojko, a three-time world champion, until it can be determined whether he will be healthy and ready to compete come the March 19 start date.

The quality of the men's performances here will have a significant bearing on who Skate Canada will ultimately decide to assign to the Worlds where berths for the 2002 Winter Olympics will be won.

Meanwhile, in the pairs event, reigning champions Jamie Sale and David Pelletier are the early leaders over former national titleholders Kristy and Kris Wirtz.

Sale and Pelletier, who won twice on the ISU Grand Prix series last autumn, earned a perfect score of 6.0 for presentation of their Come Rain or Come Shine short program.

They made one small technical error with her doubling of a planned triple toe loop.

The Wirtzes delivered their best performance of the season but it wasn't enough to finish ahead of Sale and Pelletie r who will be among the favourites for gold at the upcoming Worlds.