Chinese skaters qualify for free skating
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E-mail Xinhua, February 20, 2014
Chinese skaters Li Zijun and Zhang Kexin qualified for the free skating after they finished 11th and 14th in the short program of the ladies' figure skating at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games on Wednesday.
Li's routine to Tango featured a triple flip, a triple toeloop, a triple lutz and a double axel, as the seventh place winner in the world championships in 2013 scored 57.55 points to take the 11th place.
"I have performed my best just now, but the score was not good enough," said Li, who made her season's best at the Four Continents Championships at 62.84.
"I felt a little bit tired in the second half of the program. As I wasn't in good shape at the beginning of this season and I'm not as competitive as the other high-level skaters, I didn't feel too much pressure."
Skating to Paint It Black, Sympathy for the Devil, Zhang, placed 23rd in the world championships in 2013, landed two triple toeloops, a triple lutz and a double axel. The 17-year-old scored her season's best 55.8 points to clinch the 14th place.
"I didn't land the first triple toeloop solidly, so I thought I must do my best in my second triple toeloop. And I did it. As to the rest of the performance, I thought I did the triple lutz and step sequence better than in the team event," Zhang said.
"During the team event, skaters from all the participating teams were sitting there watching, and I felt the pressure. I thought I must get a high score for my team. Today, it's easier."
The ladies' competitions consist of short program and free skating. Thirty competitors started the short program, and the 24 best-placed competitors qualify for the free skating on Thursday.
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