体坛英语新闻：Canada's pair leads ice dance in figure skating worlds

MOSCOW, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won the short dance of the 2011 Figure Skating World Championships on Friday, scoring a point of 74.29 in Moscow's Megasport stadium.

In a music mixed tango and waltz, the defending champions presented a perfect performance in the stadium, winning rounds of applause from the audiences.

About half-point behind, Canaidans' long-time rival, Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White, scored 73.76 points after a nearly flawless program, while France's Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat finished third with 70.97 points.

China's ice dance pair Huang Xintong and Zheng Xun, who have won their crown in 2011 Asian Winter Games in February, finished 16th with 52.17 points and advanced to the free dance segment.

After the competition, Zheng told Xinhua that they had play a normal level in the short dance.

"We were satisfied with our short dance program," Zheng said. " After the preliminary round, we found some sort of rhythm in the competition."

"I hope we could do better in the free dance segment," he added.

According to the agenda, the free dance was scheduled for Saturday.