China's Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao perform during the pairs short programme at the World Figure Skating Championships in Gothenburg March 18, 2008. [Photo: Sina.com.cn]
China's Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao turned in a near-flawless short program to take the lead in the pairs event at the world figure skating championships on Tuesday.
The 2005 Four Continents winners, skating to Maksim Mrvica's Piano Fantasy, hardly put a foot wrong and managed near perfect synchronization to score 74.36 points, a new personal best.
They edged out European champions and favorites Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (72.00) from Germany with the Russian duo of Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov (71.42) third.
"The most important thing is still to come, the free skating," said Hao, referring to the deciding event on Wednesday evening.
"The crowd here was just great. We are always hoping to give a good performance for the crowd," he added, just two weeks after undergoing surgery to have a furuncle removed from his left leg.
The pair, who are unrelated, won silver at the Turin Olympics, where Dan sprained knee ligaments during a routine before collecting herself to complete the performance.
They are yet to win a major championship gold, however, with a silver at the 2006 world championships and a bronze in 2005.
Germans Savchenko and Szolkowy managed 72.00 points, just 0.14 below their personal best, after Savchenko miscued her landing on the side-by-side triple toeloop early in their program.
The pair put in a technically demanding routine to Anu Malik's soundtrack to Bollywood film Ashoka the Great.
China's Pang Qing and Tong Jian, this year's Four Continents winners and 2006 world champions, lie in fifth place after Tong fluffed his landing on the opening triple toeloop.