(November 4, 2005)

The Canadian pair team of Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison and ice dancers Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe currently stand in fourth-place in their respective disciplines after the first day of competition at the 2005 Cup of China.

Dubé and Davison, the 2004 Canadian Junior Pair Champions and two-time world junior silver medallists, started the competition on a strong note, placing fourth in the short program. Dubé and Davison hit all of their elements, including an impressive throw triple Salchow and side-by-side triple Salchows.

They have also increased the difficulty levels of some of their elements in the short program, including the straight-line footwork sequence, from their last ISU Grand Prix appearance at the 2005 Smart Ones Skate America.

The young duo were awarded 29.80 points for technical elements and 23.36 points for program components, bringing the total segment score to 53.16.

In first after the short program are 2005 MasterCard Skate Canada International silver medallists Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov, of Russia, with 62.76 points. The Chinese team of Qing Pang and Jian Tong are currently second with 58.64 points, while the Polish team of Dorota Zagorska and Mariusz Suidek are third, earning a total of 56.06 points.

The ice dance competition got underway on Thursday with the compulsory dance, the Tango Romantica.

Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe, the reigning Canadian silver medalists, racked up 16.18 points for technical elements and 15.40 points for program components, bringing their combined total to 31.58.

Currently in first are two-time world champions Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, of Russia, with 36.83 points. Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski, of Israel, stand second with 34.23, followed by the Italian team of Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali with 32.03 points.

Competition continues on Friday with the original dance, the men’s short program and the pair free skate.