The twice world and European champions turned in a dazzling performance that was marred by one major error, Berezhnaya belly-flopping to the ice on their throw triple loop.

But the judges were suitably impressed with what was an otherwise flawless effort, marking the couple down technically but awarding them top marks for presentation to leave them ahead of French world bronze medallists Sarah Abitbol and Stephane Bernadis going into Wednesday's free skating.

It was a satisfying return for the Russian couple, who had their gold medal taken away and were prevented from defending their world title in Nice, France, last year when it was announced on the eve of the championships that Berezhnaya had become the first figure skater to test positive for a banned substance.

"They were not nervous because of what happened last year," said their coach Tamara Moskvina. "They went into the short programme with a fighting spirit. They were very well prepared and determined."

Facing the unenviable task of skating first, Abitbol and Bernadis made the best of a difficult situation, delighting the crowd if not the judges, who left them second despite a performance with no glaring faults.

But the French pair have overcome bigger obstacles in their career, taking the bronze in Nice after Bernadis was knifed by an intruder when he opened the door to his hotel room.

"The marks were low but maybe it hurt us that we were skating first," said Abitbol, third place finishers for the last three years. "But we're happy with what we've done.

"We really felt the support of the audience and that helped a lot."

Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin, the third-ranked Russian pair, were a surprise third ahead of compatriots, reigning world and European champions Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov, who began their defence shakily.

When Petrova touched down on side-by-side triple toe-loops the judges punished the couple with technical marks as low as 4.9 and mediocre presentation scores of mostly 5.4s.

"You have to pay for your mistakes," said the couple's coach Liudmilla Velikova. "It's not the first time they've made mistakes in the short program.

"Everyone is nervous and she (Petrova) has to learn to deal with that like everyone else,"