2010 Figure Skating Worlds: Pairs Free Skate Recap

by Yuliya Talmazan | March 25, 2010 at 02:27 pm

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Chinese Team Of Pang/Tong Gets Pairs Title

Qing Pang and Jian Tong of China became second time World Champions on Wednesday night. Pang and Tang became World champions for the first time during the 2006 post-Olympic season. Leading after short program, the Chinese duo looked strong in the free skate until Qing Pang doubled side-by-side triple toeloop. But, it was smooth sailing after that. The team earned a total of 211.39 points, two points below the 213.31-point skate that earned them a silver medal at the Olympics. Skating to "Impossible Dream" by Joe Hisaishi in the final event of the year, Pang and Tong made their dream season possible with first place finish at NHK Trophy and Cup of Russia, second place finish at Grand Prix Final, a Worlds Title and most importantly Olympic silver medal. But, will it be the end of Pang and Tang on international arena? So far, the pair has not indicated if they were planning to retire after the Worlds.

Germans Not In First... Again

Worlds became another disappointment for Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany. Although the couple improved their third place showing at the Olympisc by placing second in Torino, the goal was definitely the champions title. But, it was not to happen after Szolkowy doubled on a side-by-side jump in the short program, and Savchenko did the same in free skate last night. With a score of 204.74, nearly 7 points behind leaders Pang and Tong, the Germans were left with silver. It is reported that the German team will not retire after this season and will keep on skating until Sochi 2014.

Russians Get Bronze Second Year In a Row

The Russian team of Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov claimed their second consecutive bronze medal at World Championships. The duo experimented with the quad throw jump in the free skate. The team's coach Tamara Moskvina insists that Kavaguti and Smirnov keep trying to land a quad throw jump in competition again. The couple did land quadruple throw Salchow in competition before, but chose not to do one at the Olympics. Last night, slender Kavaguti had a hard hit as she was trying to tackle the quad Salchow throw jump. She fell again on throw triple loop later in the program.

The top ten result table:

1. Qing Pang/ Jian Tong (CHN)
2. Aliona Savchenko/ Robin Szolkowy (GER)
3. Yuko Kavaguti/ Alexander Smirnov (RUS)
4. Maria Mukhortova/ Maxim Trankov (RUS)
5. Dan Zhang/ Hao Zhang (CHN)
6. Jessica Dube/ Bryce Davison (CAN)
7. Caydee Denney/ Jeremy Barrett (USA)
8. Vera Bazarova/ Yuri Larionov (RUS)
9. Amanda Evora/ Mark Ladwig (USA)
10. Anabelle Langlois/ Cody Hay (CAN)

For more detailed results and scores, go to ISU website.