Sui Wenjing (R) and Han Cong of China perform during Pair Free Skating at ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2017 in Helsinki, Finland on March 30, 2017. Sui and Han claimed the title with 232.06 points in total. (Xinhua/Liu Lihang)
The Chinese duo of Sui Wenjing and Han Cong took gold in the the pairs competitions on Thursday at the World Figure Skating Championships 2017 in Helsinki, Finland, with total score of 232.06 points.
The Chinese pair were silver medalists at the World Figure Skating Championships 2016.
German pair Aliona Savchenko/ Bruno Massot got the silver medal with 230.30 points, and the bronze medal went to Russian skaters Evgenia Tarasova/ Vladimir Morozov.
The other Chinese pair of Duo Xiaoyu Yu and Hao Zhang, who appeared for the first time at the World Figure Skating Championships, placed 4th.
But two-time and reigning world champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada failed to defend their gold medal, and were unexpectedly listed at 7th place.
The World Figure Skating Championships 2017 were held at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki. As of Thursday evening, half of the competitions had finished. The Championships will continue on Friday with ladies' free skating and men's free skating, and ice dance performances on Saturday.