By Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-10-16 09:33

After Pang's unexpected cold spoiled the pair's season-opening competition at the 2007 Figure Skating National Championships last week, they finished runners-up to their Chinese teammates Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao. Having caught a cold on the first day of the competition, Pang struggled to finish their free skating routine, which required lots of strength.

After the competition, Tong admitted that they were not ready for those unexpected accidents. But he said that ordeal gained them valuable experience.

"We are still not that skilled at our new routine and the national competition is a good test," said Tong. "But we have learned our lesson from that. We still did our best, although we were in very bad condition."

From October 25 to 28, Pang/Tong will start this season's international competition in Reading in the US, for the first stop of the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix.

Two Zhangs on the way

Together with Pang/Tong, the younger two Zhangs are also strong competitors for China on the world figure skating stage.

At the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, the young pair moved the world by resuming their performance even after Zhang Dan badly injured her leg after she crashed awkwardly into the ice while attempting an unprecedented throw quad salchow.

They ended up winning silver medals at the Games.

For the new season, they have developed new routines for both the short program and free skating.

The pair's short program will follow a piano fantasia of Maksim Mrvica, and their free skating music will be the soundtrack of the romantic movie The Myth.

It is the first time they will perform a love story on the ice.

"The routine for our free skating will tell a story, and some difficult movements have been added to lifts and jumps," said Zhang Hao in an introduction. "We still have to improve some details of the new routines and we hope to achieve good results in all the competitions this season."

The first Grand Prix stop for the two Zhangs will be in Paris from November 15 to 18.

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