Sofia / Bulgaria

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Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin (RUS)

Pavliuchenko/Khodykin (RUS) shine in Junior Pairs Short Program

ISU Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalists Daria Pavliuchenko/Denis Khodykin of Russia skated to the lead in the Junior Pairs Short Program at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2018 in Sofia (BUL) on Wednesday. Russia’s Polina Kostiukovich/Dmitrii Ialin came second while 2017 World Junior bronze medalists Yumeng Gao/Zhong Xie of China are currently ranked third.

Pavliuchenko/Khodykin’s performance to ‘Cloud Atlas’ featured a triple twist, throw triple loop as well as a level-four lift, pair combination spin and step sequence. The Russian pair collected 63.12 points, a personal best.

“We skated well today, but this is not yet the end of the competition. We have to continue the same way tomorrow (in the Free Skating),” Pavliuchenko said.

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Polina Kostiukovich and Dmitrii Ialin (RUS)

Skating to “Malaguena”, Kostiukovich/Ialin landed a triple twist, throw triple loop and picked up a level four for three elements to score a personal best of 61.77 points. The ISU small silver medal for the Short Program was a nice extra present for Kostiukovich, who celebrated her 15th birthday today.

“I agree with Dasha (Daria Pavliuchenko). Tomorrow we have the free skating and we’ll have to pull ourselves together and continue in the same spirit,” Kostiukovich said.

Gao/Xie produced a triple twist and high throw triple loop in their routine to ‘Chicago’, but the double Lutz received an edge call and the 2017 World Junior bronze medalists had a one-point deduction for a time violation. They earned 59.55 points.

“Today we skated up to our level and hopefully we’ll be able to perform our best in the free skating tomorrow,” Xie said.

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Yumeng Gao and Zhong Xie (CHN)

Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galiamov (RUS) placed fourth on 56.95 points and Evelyn Walsh/Trennt Michaud (CAN) follow in fifth on 55.31 points. Audrey Lu/Misha Mitrofanov (USA) round up the top six (54.38 points).

The ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships continue Thursday with the Junior Men Short Program and the Junior Pairs Free Skating. For more information, full entry lists and results please see the event website and the official website. Follow the event on social media using the hashtags #WorldJFigure and #FigureSkating.