Sui and Han set standard

China's reigning world champion duo of Sui Wenjing and Han Cong claimed the NHK Trophy pairs title on Saturday with a record score in free skating at the ISU Grand Prix competition in Osaka, Japan.

Giving a spectacular performance to the music of Puccini's Turandot, Sui and Han scored 155.10 points, surpassing the previous high of 154.66 set by Russia's Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov four years ago.

With Saturday's gold and another at the Cup of China the previous week, Sui and Han booked a ticket to the ISU Grand Prix Final in Nagoya next month.