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SAITAMA, Japan - Canadas Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford had a season-best score in the pairs short program Wednesday to sit in second place at the ISU world figure skating championships. Neven Subotic Jersey . Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., and Radford, from Balmertown, Ont., were second with 77.01 points, just behind Olympic bronze medallists Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany. The four-time world champs lead at 79.02 and Sochi silver medallists Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third with 76.15 points. "It was amazing," said Radford, who won world bronze last year with Duhamel. "We wish we could skate like that all the time. Most of this season, we tried so hard to please everyone and fight for every point. Today we were a lot more relaxed and its put us in a perfect spot heading into the free skate." Less than eight points separate the top five pairs. At the Games, Duhamel and Radford helped Canada to the silver medal in the team event and were seventh in pairs. "We came back from the Olympics feeling like we had achieved all our goals," said Duhamel. "We feel very settled but from this point on were going to be competing for ourselves and not worry about every little point." Tatsuki Machida of Japan upstaged compatriot and Olympic gold medallist Yuzuru Hanyu on Wednesday to finish first in the mens short program. Machida, who was fifth at last months Sochi Games, hit all his jumps and scored a career-high 98.21 points to finish ahead of Javier Fernandez of Spain, who had 96.42 points. Three-time world champion Patrick Chan of Toronto is skipping the championships. The mens event concludes with the free skate on Friday. Skating to music from the movie "East of Eden," Machida electrified the capacity crowd of 18,000 at Saitama Super Arena with a near-flawless routine that opened with a quad toe loop, triple toe loop combination. The 24-year-old Machida also included a triple Axel and a triple Lutz in his routine. "I got motivated when I saw Hanyu win the gold in Sochi," Machida said. "I think this is the best chance Ill have to get a medal and will do my best in the free skate. I was able to get a lot of positive energy from the crowd tonight." Hanyu fell on the opening quad toe loop and finished with 91.24 points for third place. "Needless to say the toe loop wasnt good," Hanyu said. "But how I jumped wasnt that bad so I am going to adjust for the free program." Fernandez, who was fourth in Sochi, impressed the judges with a dynamic routine and got high marks for a triple Lutz, triple toe loop combination. "One skater did better than me but I am still happy with my performance," Fernandez said. "Sometimes its hard to get motivated right after the Olympics by my coaches told me to work hard and I can see that hard works pays off." Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic was fourth, followed by Han Yan of China. Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., was 15th, world junior champion Nam Nguyen of Toronto was 16th and Elladj Balde of Pierrefonds, Que., was 22nd. Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto were sixth in the pairs while Paige Lawrence of Kennedy, Sask., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., were 12th. In Sochi, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch contributed to Canadas team silver and were fifth in the pairs. "It was nice to skate the program clean one last time. All those run-throughs paid off," Moore-Towers said. "I felt great, calm and confident," added Moscovitch. "The skate felt good. Our goal is to skate to clean programs and we are halfway there." The pairs event concludes Thursday with the free skate. "I think youll find there is an easier sense of flow throughout the program," Radford said. "Weve just made some little adjustments to free up the program and when weve been skating it in practice, it feels lighter and smoother and it feels easier for us to just let it go and enjoy the moment." The womens short program is also scheduled for Thursday. ——— With files from The Associated Press. Raphael Guerreiro Dortmund Jersey . -- The Chicago Bears have agreed to terms with safety Brock Vereen and QB David Fales on four-year contracts. Lukasz Piszczek Dortmund Shirts . - Houston defensive end J. www.dortmundfcshop.com/c-9-marco-reus-fc-borussia-dortmund-jersey.aspx . Various media outlets, including the Detroit Free Press, indicate a deal is close, while USA Today cited an unidentified person directly involved with the negotiations as saying the pact is for two years.LONDON, Ont. - Michael Giugovaz stopped 44 shots and four different players scored twice for London as the Knights hammered the visiting Guelph Storm 11-1 on Thursday in Ontario Hockey League action.Christian Dvorak, Matt Rupert, Owen MacDonald and Michael McCarron had a pair of goals apiece for the Knights (11-6-0), who extended their win streak to seven games, while Dvorak and Rupert tacked on three assists each for five-point outings.Mitchell Marner scored once and set up three more for London as Tait Seguin and Aaron Berisha added the others.Chadd Baumann scored the lone goal for the Storm (8-6-1).Justin Nicholls started in net for Guelph but was pulled after allowing four goals on 17 shots in 30:35 of play. Bradley VanSchubert stopped just 10-of-17 shots in relief.The Knights went 2 for 3 on the power play while the Storm failed to score on two chances with the man advantage.---ICEDOGS 5 OTTERS 2St. Catharines, Ont. — Brent Moran stopped 38 shots as Niagara handed Erie its first regulation--time loss of the season. Marcel Schmelzer Jersey. Blake Siebenaler, Graham Knott, Cody Payne, Johnny Corneil and Hayden McCool supplied the offence for the IceDogs (3-13-0).Kyle Petit and Kurtis MacDermid scored for the Otters (13-1-1) while Connor McDavid failed to pick up a point for the first time this season.---PETES 2 BATTALION 1PETERBOROUGH, Ont. — Matthew Mancina stopped 44 shots and Stephen Nosad broke a 1-1 deadlock with six seconds remaining in regulation as the Petes slipped past North Bay.Nick Ritchie also scored for Peterborough (5-6-3), which won its third game in a row.Brenden Miller scored for the Battalion (8-3-4) while Jake Smith made 31 saves in defeat.---SPITFIRES 4 ATTACK 2WINDSOR, Ont. — Alex Fotinos kicked out 28 shots as the Spitfires doubled up Owen Sound.Trevor Murphy, Jamie Lewis, Aaron Luchuk and Cristiano DiGiacinto found the back of the net for Windsor (6-8-1).Zach Nastasiuk had a pair of goals for the Attack (8-4-4), who got a 24-save outing from Jack Flinn.--- Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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