Belbin, Agosto Dance Into Second at Beijing’s Cup of China

Beijing, China - Five-time U.S. Champions Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto are within reach of the ice dancing gold medal after the first day of competition at Cup of China, which runs Nov. 6-9, in Beijing, China. Americans are also close to podium positions in the ladies and pairs competition with the men's short program slated for Friday.

Pairs, Short Program

Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig (51.48 points) received no deductions in their short program Thursday, after receiving two one-point deductions at Skate Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, last week.

A solid throw triple loop helped put Evora and Ladwig into fourth place heading into the free skate. They had four Level 4 elements in their program but their side-by-side triple Salchows were downgraded to doubles.

Leading the pairs competition are China's Olympic silver medalists Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang (67.12). They have a commanding lead over the Ukraine's Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov, who edged out 2006 World Champions Qing Pang and Jian Tong of China for second place, 60.34 to 59.36.

Chelsi Guillen and Danny Curzon were not expected to compete at Cup of China, which marks their first senior international event, but they were called on to replace injured Brooke Castile and her partner Ben Okolski, the 2007 U.S. Champions and two-time World Championship team members.

Reigning U.S. junior pairs bronze medalists Guillen and Curzon are last among the seven pairs with 35.56, which includes a one point deduction. They both had problems on their attempted side by side double axel and Guillen had problems on the throw triple loop, although she did not fall.

Guillen and Curzon will leadoff the pairs free skate on Friday.

Ice Dance, Compulsory Dance

The compulsory dance has always been a weakness for Belbin and Agosto. At the 2008 World Championships, the team found themselves off the podium for the first time since the 2004 worlds, unable to make up enough points after falling in the compulsory.

The Olympic silver medalists fared much better Thursday. Currently, Belbin and Agosto (37.15) are about a point behind training mates Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, the Grand Prix Final and European Champions from Russia. Domnina and Shabalin have 38.34 while their country mates Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski are third with 35.68.

Belbin and Agosto opened the season with a silver medal performance behind World Champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder at Skate America. They are the only American ice dancers competing in then 10 team field in Beijing.

The ice dance competition continues with Friday's original dance and Saturday's free dance.

Ladies, Short Program

Ashley Wagner had difficulty on the opening move of her "Somewhere in Time" short program. On her planned triple lutz-triple loop combination, Wagner fell on the lutz, which also received an edge deduction, and could not complete the second jump.

But the 2008 U.S. Championship bronze medalist recovered well enough to finish fourth in the ladies short program. After landing a triple flip and double axel, as well as performing spins and spirals valued at a Level 4, Wagner has 55.40 heading into the free skate.

Katrina Hacker is currently in fifth place with 50.80. In her performance to selections from the On Golden Pond soundtrack, Hacker landed a triple toe-double toe combination, a triple loop and a double Axel. She also had four elements valued at Level 3 or Level 4.

Hacker received a Level 2 mark for her footwork while Wagner received a Level 3 for hers.

Leading the competition is Korea's two-time Grand Prix Final Champion Yu-Na Kim (63.64), also a two-time bronze medalist at the World Championships. Kim received an edge call on her triple flip-triple toe combination. Her triple lutz was also downgraded to a double.

Former World Champion Miki Ando of Japan is currently second with 59.30. Her triple flip was downgraded to a double but Ando is still ahead of Finland's Laura Lepisto (58.60).

The ladies free skate is Saturday.

Cup of China is the third event in the six-event Grand Prix series that concludes with the Grand Prix Final in Goyang City, Korea, Dec. 10-14. The other events are Skate America in Everett, Wash., Oct. 24-26; Skate Canada, Oct. 31-Nov. 2 in Ottawa, Canada; Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris, France, Nov. 15-18; Cup of Russia in Moscow, Russia, Nov. 20-23; and NHK Trophy in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 27-30.

The Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, now in its 14th season, consists of six international events in a cumulative, point-scoring format. The top six scoring athletes in each discipline move onto the Grand Prix Final, which will be combined with the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.