QIQIHAR, Northeast China -- The Olympic silver medalists Zhang Dan/Zhang Hao won the pairs free skating gold medal at China's 11th Winter Games, bringing the four-day figure skating competition to a conclusion here on Sunday.
China's Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao perform to win the pairs free skating at China's 11th Winter Games in Qiqihaer, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 20, 2008. [Xinhua] |
The competition of pairs came down to Zhang/Zhang and world champions Pang Qing/Tong Jian. The former pair, despite Zhang Hao caught a cold, excelled on their execution, edging the other by less than one point.
However, the winners were not satisfied with their performance. "We changed a planned triple jump to a double, and made several small mistakes in the program," Zhang Dan said.
The gold medal of pairs short program was captured by Pang/Tong earlier on Friday.
Yu Xiaoyang/Wang Chen and Huang Xintong/Zheng Xun, both pairs from Harbin, split the two gold medals of ice dancing. Yu/Wang won the free dancing while Huang/Zheng were crowned in the combined event of routine and original.
Wu Jialiang, who won the men's short program Saturday, stumbled on a triple loop. However, it didn't hold him back from winning the free skating title to the music "From the new world" soundtrack.
The first gold medal for men's singles, the free skating demonstration event, went to Li Chengjiang, a veteran skater in the national team.
In women's competition, the two-time national champion Liu Yan swept all the events on free skating demonstration, short program and free skating; while Fang Dan, the winner of last National Winter Games five years ago and one of the favorates of home crowds, only got a silver in the free skating demonstration.
Fang said the demonstration event was what she wanted the most, as the program was designed in Canada particularly for the Winter Games. "I am still satisfied with the silver," said Fang, who smiled in her interview.
Qin Guangying, head judge of the figure skating, said young competitors exhibited great qualities and performance, yet they were still lack of experience in major competitions.
Geng Bingwa, 12 years old, the yongest skater in China who managed five triples, only finished fifth in women's free skating event. She fell on her jumps, even though they were "simple elements".
"She is still too young and inexperienced for a big competition like this," said Zhu Guifang, Geng's coach. "But she is very talented and hard-working, otherwise she wouldn't be able to jump five triples in a winter."
Yao Bin, head coach of China's figure skating team, said the women's competition was a surprise to him. "I didn't expect them to perform so well," he said, adding he was glad to see more young skaters manage five triples.
Qin said this year's competition adopted new rules, which focused on every single element rather than overall performance. "If the competitor falls on one element, he or she will be downgraded a lot."
She added the new rules were aimed at keeping up with international standard.
A total of ten gold medals were on offer in the competition, far more than four titles in other world competitions, including the world championships.
One portion of a world event, such as short program, was upgraded as a single event. In addition, the demonstration events were added, which were "aimed at improving Chinese skaters artistic performance," said Yang Dong, director of the Figure Skating Competition Committee.
"I think it is a good change," said Fang Dan. "Because in other competitions, skaters would definitely miss the gold if they make miskates in either free skating or short program, but now they have chances to compete for at least one gold."
