(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-19 09:31

GOTHENBURG, Sweden - China's Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao skated a flawless routine to win the pairs short programme at the world figure skating championships on Tuesday.

Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao from China perform their short program in the pairs competition at the World Figure Skating Championships in Goteborg, Sweden, Tuesday, March 18, 2008. [Agencies]

French favourites Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder led the ice dancing after the first leg before the Chinese pair took centre stage.

Bidding for their first world championship gold medal, they sustained near-perfect synchronisation in an elegant skate to Maksim Mrvica's Piano Fantasy, scoring a personal best 74.36 points.

"The most important thing is still to come, the free skating," Zhang Hao told reporters, referring to the pairs' final on Wednesday evening.

The Zhangs, who are not related, are best known for the silver medal they won at the Turin Olympics, where Zhang Dan sprained knee ligaments during a routine but managed to complete it.

"Since it is the last competition for this season, we will try our best and give our best performance to the audience," she told a news conference.

GERMAN DISAPPOINTMENT

The Chinese pair led European champions and favourites Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, who scored 72.00 points after Savchenko messed up her landing on a side-by-side triple toe loop early in the programme.

"Our performance tonight was not the best of the season," said Szolkowy. "We are a little bit disappointed about our two little mistakes. Of course we hope to do better tomorrow."

In the ice dancing competition, Delobel and Schoenfelder showed their class by scoring both the highest technical and presentations marks in the opening compulsory dance, an Argentine Tango.

Favourites following the withdrawal of European champions Oxana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin due to injury, they go into the second leg of the competition comfortably ahead of Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

"It was a good compulsory dance, we wanted to show a special interpretation to make the dance more interesting. We are happy with the marks," Schoenfelder said.

Ice dancing resumes on Thursday with the original dance, followed by the third and final leg, the free dance, on Friday.

America's main hopes, Olympic silver medallists Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, struggled to finish fifth after a one-point deduction for a fall by Belbin.

Falls in ice dancing are very rare.

"It's just a freak accident, it has never happened before," Belbin said.

"(But) in the competition, it should make it easier. It's always easier to come back from behind."