Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy of Germany struck gold in the Pairs event, taking their fourth World title. Tatiana Volosozhar/Maxim Trankov of Russia surged from eighth to repeat as World silver medalists and Narumi Takahashi/Mervin Tran made history when they claimed Japan's first Pair Skating medal at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, the bronze.
Savchenko/Szolkowy's “Pina” program was highlighted by a throw triple flip and Salchow, a triple twist and difficult lifts, but he singled the Axel and wobbled on the pair spin (level one). The Germans scored 132.86 points and clinched the title with 201.49 points, edging out Volosozhar/Trankov by 0.11 points. “Everything was going well until I singled the Axel. Then my power was gone. I don't really know why but I forgot the spin, starting it on the wrong foot. It has never happened to me before but we just tried to make the best out of it”, Szolkowy said. “We were obviously a little nervous to skate tonight, having already won three Worlds. But now we can be proud of having won our fourth title and look into the future”, he continued.
Volosozhar/Trankov rebounded from their subpar Short Program with an excellent performance of their “Black Swan”. They hit a triple twist, a side by side triple toe-double toe combination, triple Salchow, throw triple loop and Salchow and picked up a level four for their lifts and spins. The European Champions posted a new seasons best with 140.90 points and racked up a total of 201.38 points. “It feels special. We were eighth in the short program, we were so far behind. But everything can happen. The short program was horrible, completely disappointing, but we found motivation for the free skating”, Trankov commented.
Takahashi/Tran skated last out of the 16 couples in the final and gave a solid performance to “Concerto de Quebec” and produced a triple twist, triple toe-double toe sequence, throw triple toe and six level-four elements.The two-time World Junior medalists scored 124.32 points, a new seasons best, and totaled 189.69 points. “I love to collect medals. I was so happy to get a small medal, now I added a big one. It's amazing. We are so honored to be the first Japanese pair skaters to win a world medal. I cannot describe this feeling”, Takahashi told the press.
Qing Pang/Jian Tong (CHN) slipped from second to fourth after he fell on the triple toe and she singled an Axel (186.05 points). Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford came fifth with a solid performance (185.41 points) and Vera Bazarova/Yuri Larionov (RUS) were ranked sixth.
