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Shen/Zhao skate to 3rd ISU Grand Prix titile
Two-time world pairs champions Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China on Saturday achieved their third win of the season following Skate Canada and the Cup of China. US national champion Johnny Weir held off a challenge from local favorite Brian Joubert to win the men's figure skating eventat the Paris leg of the ISU Grand Prix, as Canada's Joannie Rochette took the women's title here on Saturday.
World silver medallist Joubert, who had been struggling in fourth overnight after the short program, came back strongly to score the highest marks for free skate routine but had to settle for second behind the American who claimed his second win of the season. The 18-year-old from Quebec held her lead from the short program in her free skating final routine to Stravinski's 'Firebird' to keep Carolina Kostner of Italy in second position. Rochette gave a solid performance despite a shaky landing on her opening triple-triple toeloop combination, producing a second triple-triple combination and a triple-double. The Canadian national runner-up put her improvement down to a change in coach just before traveling to the Cup of China earlier this month where she finished third. "I feel much calmer and more composed now," said Rochette. She scored 168.72 points with Kostner achieving 143.50 for her routine to Piano Concerto No1 and 3 by Prokofiev which also included a triple-triple. European champion Julia Sebestyen of Hungary finished third with 136.52. Weir, winner of the NHK Trophy in Japan this month, played it safe and did not include a quadruple jump in his program to Otonalby Raul di Blasio, instead highlighting his artistry and ability to spin and pirouette. The 20-year-old American, who only took up skating eight years ago, earned a combined final score of 208.10. Canada's Emanuel Sandhu finished third despite falling three times during his routine to finish on 168.80. Joubert performed a technically-challenging program, and was the only skater to succeed with the quadruple jump. "It was hard to get back, but I won the free program and gave it everything and that's what counts," said 20-year-old Joubert, winner of Skate America earlier in the season. The French skater opened his '1492 Conquest of Paradise' performance with a quadruple-triple toeloop combination and bemoaned the fact that quadruple jumps weren't taken more into account under the new judging system. "I didn't think the quad is rewarded enough when it should be for the development of the sport," complained the Frenchman. Japanese skater Daisuke Takahashi, who was ranked third after the short program, had a disastrous day, falling four times duringthe four-and-a-half minute routine to drop to last on the list of eleven skaters. Despite errors by both Shen and Zhao, who touched down in two of their triple jumps, they managed to stay ahead of former world champions Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov to take the pairs title. The Chinese scored 188.12 for their routine to the "Soong Sisters" by Kitaro, with the Russians scoring 179.52 and China's Pang Qing and Tong Jian taking bronze with 176.10. In ice dancing world champions Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov of Russia beat Bulgarian rivals Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski, with France's Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder taking bronze. The event is the fifth of the six-leg Grand Prix qualifying series. The final leg will take place in Moscow next week, with the Grand Prix Final in Beijing in December.
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