Shen and Zhao hold slender pairs advantage in Vancouver

 VALENTINE'S Day ushered in the New Chinese Year of the tiger and it was married couple Shen Zue and Zhao Hongbo who roared into the lead after the pairs short program in Vancouver.

STANDARD BEARERS: China's Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo came out of retirement with designs on finally grabbing Olympic gold and they are halfway there after the short program (Getty Images)

The Chinese duo produced a near flawless display of speed and poise to collect 76.66 points at Pacific Coliseum - a new personal best for three-time world champions.

Performing to Queen's ‘Who wants to live forever', Shen and Zhao were drawn out of the hat first and they laid down a formidable marker for the rest of the field to follow.

The duo came out of a two-year retirement at the start of the season having tied the knot, intent on righting their Olympic wrongs, having collected consecutive bronzes at Salt Lake City 2002 and Turin 2006.

And their superb routine, that included a triple loop twist and a group four difficulty lift, was enough to give them the advantage, heading into Monday's free skate.

"It was only the short program," said Zhao. "All the scores were very close. We will have to see how we all skate tomorrow."

"We are all here for the one dream, for the one goal, to win a Gold medal."

 

Their nearest rivals are Germany's Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy who showed their true colours with a routine to ‘Send in the Clown' - that oozed the quality the duo undoubtedly possess.

The German couple, two-time world champions and three-time European champions have struggled for consistency this season, and had to settle for silver at the European Championships in January.

But with superb technical marks, bettered only by Shen and Zhao, they collected a personal best score of 75.96 - despite their clown-like exterior they certainly mean business in Vancouver.

Current European champions Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov, who collected 74.16 points for their sublime routine to the Swan by Camille Saint-Saens, are in third place.

Kavaguti and Smirnov have been in scintillating form this season and will be bidding to ensure the Olympic pairs crown remains in Russian hands - as it has done since Innsbruck 1964.

On that front, they will be flying solo. 2007 Russian champions Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov, just as they did at the European Championships in January, fluffed their lines.

While it was Mukhortova who stumbled in Helsinki, it was Trankov who lost his footing in Vancouver, and they could only muster 63.44 points.

Currently in fourth position are Pang Qing and Tong Jian, just ahead of another Chinese couple Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao on 71.50 and 71.28 respectively.

Zhang and Zhang scored much higher in technical terms but Pang and Tong just crept into the medal places, courtesy of their harder routine.

Canadian duo Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay delighted a home crowd with a solid if unspectacular routine to sit seventh, with 64.20 - opting against performing triple toe-loops and instead producing delightful doubles.

But they were just edged out by compatriots Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison, despite Dube's fall - a reward for taking a number of risks.

And British pairing Stacey Kemp and David King collected 48.28 points to lie 16th on their Olympic debut with a relatively clean if uninspiring skate.

Meanwhile there was a Valentine's Day twist to the American pairings on show. Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig are tenth, four places ahead of compatriots and rivals Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett - romantically involved with Evora.

 

 

AS IT HAPPENS: Day three of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver

IN PICTURES: The figure skating pairs short program