Duhamel and Radford shatter Chinese dreams
Print Edition
CANADIANS Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford broke Chinese hearts by outclassing home favorites Sui Wenjing and Han Cong to win their first pairs title at the 2015 ISU world figure skating championships in Shanghai yesterday.
With China hosting the event for the first time, there had been high hopes that Sui and Han or stalwarts Pang Qing and Tong Jian would win the top prize in front of their boisterous fans. But Duhamel and Radford prevented twice former world champions Pang and Tong, lying second after the short skate, from enjoying a rousing finale to their 22-year partnership with a total score of 221.53.
The Canadians were far from perfect, with Duhamel putting both hands down following a throw quadruple Salchow, while Radford lost his balance and went out of sync in the side-by-side combination spin. But their superior footwork and precision enabled them to become the first Canadians to win the pairs world title since Jamie Sale and David Pelletier in 2001.
Sui and Han leapfrogged their more experienced teammates thanks to a high-flying routine which opened with a soaring quad twist. They finished 7.41 points behind the winners and Pang and Tong had to settle for third in their final competition.
Russian Elizaveta Tuktamysheva landed a triple axel on her first leap to open a massive lead over the rest of the field after the women’s short program. Tuktamysheva was top with 77.62, followed by her Russian compatriot Elena Radionova (69.51) and Japan’s Satoko Miyahara on 67.02. China’s Li Zijun placed 6th with 61.83 points.
Li Zijun, completing a season best, was happy with her performance. “I managed to deliver what I practiced and everything was within my expectations. The atmosphere here was fantastic and I was fully motivated,” the 18-year-old said.
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