SHANGHAI, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Canadian pair Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won the ice dance title at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships here on Sunday.
Gilles and Poirier, two-time world bronze medalists, scored 128.87 points in the free dance and totaled 214.36 for the gold. The duo were also leaders after the rhythm dance.
Their compatriots Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen took the silver with 207.54. Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko of the United States settled for the bronze with a season's best 194.14.
China's Chen Xizi and Xing Jianing ranked 12th with 157.57, while Shi Shang and Wu Nan were 13th and Li Xuantong and Wang Xinkang finished last of the 16 pairs.
"I felt much more relaxed today than in the rhythm dance," said Chen. "It was really super that I adjusted myself well. We were not planning for something big, and all we wanted is progress, score by score."
The Four Continents ends on Sunday evening with a gala. Japanese skaters won both men's and women's gold medals, with Mone Chiba securing her first Four Continents title and Olympic runner-up Yuma Kagiyama scoring a season's best 307.58 points to win the men's event. Canada's Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps won the pairs gold. ■
