Chinese Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo took the silver medal in the pairs competitions at the Four Continents Figure Skating in Salt Lake City on Thursday.

The gold medal was won by reigning champions Jamie Sale and David Pelletier as the Canadian duo flowed flawlessly through their four and a half minutes routine, which earned a 6.0 presentation from German judge Gunther Teichmann.

The Chinese pair, runners-up for the world title in the last two years, were also faultless with great speed and technical virtuosity, but lagged behind in artistic presentation.

However, it was still an impressive showing as Shen and Zhao were still suffering from jet lag and Shen twisted her left ankle in the warm-up.

Third were the US champions Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman who did not complete his first triple toe loop, however Yugoslav judge Krunoslava Cumic still placed the Americans first.

The Championships was being held in the Delta Center, an arena built in 1991 as the home base for NBA Utah Jazz, which will host both the figure skating and short track speed skating competitions for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

(People's Daily 02/09/01)