Wang Shiyue (L)/Liu Xinyu of China perform during the Ice Dance Rhythm Dance competition of 2019 ISU World Figure Skating Championships at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, on March 22, 2019. Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu ranked 14th with 68.47. (Xinhua/Wang Lili)
SAITAMA, Japan, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Pyeongchang Olympic runners-up Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France led the rhythm dance at the Saitama figure skating world championships here on Friday. China's Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu ranked 14th and qualified for the free dance.
Papadakis/Cizeron, triple world champions and hot favorite in ice dance, scored their season best 88.42 points, nearly five points clear of Russia's Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, who got 83.94. Another Russian pair Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin came third in 83.10.
Papadakis said she and Cizeron have been training hard on their technique.
"It's pretty hard on this program to have the levels that we want.
"We worked a lot of technique since Europeans. I think that's what made the big difference."
China's Wang/Liu, both 24, scored 68.47 and ranked in 14th place.
"We skated well today, especially the second half," said Liu. "We performed our training level and I am happy about that."
Wang/Liu finished 18th in last world championships.
"We improved a lot this season," said Wang. "But I am not satisfied with our program components score (PCS). We need to improve on it."
The free dance will held on Saturday.
