体坛英语新闻：Zhangs set ice alight at Cup of China

BEIJING, Nov. 7 -- With a new routine played out to the sound of With the Riding on the Wings of Songs, China's star figure skating pair Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao led the pairs event at the Cup of China in Beijing on Thursday.

    Costly mistakes put veteran teammates Pang Qing and Tong Jian third at the event, the third stop on this season's ISU Grand Prix series, held at Capital Indoor Gymnasium.

    The two Zhangs rounded off a smooth short program with a score of 67.12 to lead the seven pairs.

    "We just did our normal performance and we are satisfied with the result," said Zhang Dan. "But I wasn't very relaxed since it was the first competition and our performance was not perfect. We will try to do better in the free staking tomorrow."

    Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov of Ukraine trailed the reigning world silver medalists with 60.34 points and the injury-riddled Pang and Tong came third with 59.36. Another young Chinese couple, Zhang Yue and Wang Lei, squeezed into fifth.

    Russia's Oksana Domnina (left) and Maxim Shabali perform their ice dancing compulsory routine during the ISU Figure Skating Cup of China yesterday in Beijing. Yang Shizhong Pang and Tong never looked likely to defend their Cup of China title despite throwing out a new routine to surprise fans. Pang stumbled while landing a triple throw and the 2006 world champions dropped points by finishing just out of synch with the music.

    "We didn't do well in several technical elements today," said Tong. "Pang sprained her ankle during a training session before the start of the season and the injuries reduced our confidence on the ice."

    Days earlier Tong's injured tendon flared up but the pair decided to compete at the season opener rather than disappoint a boisterous home crowd and surrender crucial points.

    "We did not want to withdraw, otherwise we would not be able to accumulate enough points for the GP finals," said Tong.

    "We will battle on and hope to rediscover our form soon. The free skating will be a physical challenge but we think we can do better than today."

    Both leading Chinese pairs have adopted new routines for this season with which they hope to dazzle judges and add to China's success at the sport.

    "But our biggest priority ahead of that is getting over these injuries and regaining our confidence," said Tong, who skated to Gary Moore's Blues in the short program.

    In other events, Russia's Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabali placed first in the ice dancing and Kim Yu-na of South Korea led the pack in the women's singles after the short program yesterday.

    The ice dancing competition started yesterday with the compulsory Viennese waltz. Defending Grand Prix champs Domnina and Shabali of Russia were first with 38.34 points, followed by 2006 Winter Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of the United States with 37.15.

    The four-day Cup of China will continue today with the pairs free skating, ice dancing original dance and men's short program.