Fearless Germans claim pairs crown
Meissner ninth in short program
GOTEBORG, Sweden - Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany won the pairs title at the World Figure Skating Championships, completing a sweep of all the year's major titles.
Savchenko and Szolkowy, also the Grand Prix and European champions, took advantage of their hugely difficult routine to win the title, beating China's Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao by more than 5 points. Canada's Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison won the bronze.
Earlier yesterday, two-time European champion Carolina Kostner edged reigning world silver medalist Mao Asada by 0.18 points to win the women's short program. Former world champion Kimmie Meissner, who is hoping a coaching switch can reverse a dismal season, was in ninth place. But the American was more than satisfied with the performance, punching the air when she finished.
"Yeah, pretty happy," she said when she came off the ice, with a broad smile that belied her understatement.
The women's free skate is today.
Savchenko and Szolkowy weren't perfect. They botched their side-by-side triple salchows when he fell and she touched down, a mandatory 1-point deduction. But they received seven level-four marks for their elements, including a gorgeous lift where Savchenko was held aloft as if diving toward the ice.
The Germans finished with a total score of 202.86 while Zhang and Zhang scored 197.82. Savchenko and Szolkowy are the first Germans to win the pairs title since their coach, Ingo Steuer, won with partner Mandy Woetzel in 1997.
The women's competition was expected to be a showdown between Asada of Japan and South Korea's Kim Yu-na, winner of the Grand Prix final. But Kostner had a different idea.
The Italian has departed from her classical comfort zone with this year's short program, packing elongated spirals, tight spins with changing arm positions, and big jumps between the opening shrieks and closing groans of The Doors', "Riders on the Storm."
Meissner hasn't been the same skater since she won the 2006 world title, and her devastating seventh-place finish at the US championships in January prompted some big changes. She left longtime coach Pam Gregory and now trains with Richard Callaghan, who coached Tara Lipinski to gold in the Nagano Olympics.
Meissner said she isn't bothered by being 7 points out of the lead.
"I don't care at all," said Meissner, who scored 57.25 points. "I am just so happy. This is something I can be proud of."
Still, the Americans will have to fare better in the free skate if they are to keep three spots at next year's world championships. The top two skaters must finish with a combined placement of 13 - say, fifth and eighth - to earn three spots at the 2009 worlds, where results will determine how many entries each country has at the Vancouver Olympics.
Bebe Liang and Ashley Wagner were 10th and 11th, respectively, in the short program.
