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Teenage Korean thrills fans to lead Cup of China
2008-11-07
BEIJING (AFP) - South Korean teenager Kim Yu-Na set herself up for a second International Skating Union Grand Prix title of the season after taking the lead in the Cup of China short programme here on Thursday. The 18-year-old high school student and world bronze medallist, who also won Skate America last month, took the lead of the women's competition at the Beijing Capital Museum with a score of 63.64. The 2006 world junior champion is followed by Japanese 2007 world champion Miki Ando, who scored 59.30. The 2008 European bronze medallist, Laura Lepisto of Finland, is third on 58.60. Chinese duo Zhang Hao and Zhang Dan were a class apart in the pairs short programme. Zhang and Zhang, the 2008 world and 2006 Olympic silver medallists, scored 67.12 with a series of well executed jumps, spins and steps, putting them in pole position to clinch victory ahead of Friday's free skating. Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov of the Ukraine are second on 60.34, while Qing Pang and Jian Tong of China, gold medallists at the 2006 world championships in Calgary, would be disappointed with their score of 59.36, which placed them third. The 28-year-old Pang, battling an injury, fell to the ice from a single jump, costing them a two-point deduction. After the compulsory dance in the ice dance category, Russia's 2008 European champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin lead on 38.34. Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, the 2006 Olympic silver medallists from the United States, are second on 37.15, while Russia's 2008 European and world bronze medallists Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski are third on 35.68. The competition continues on Friday with the ice dance-original dance, men's short programme and pairs free skating.
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