Archiv » n Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., trailed by

SAITAMA, Japan -- European champions Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte received 69.70 points to finish first in the short program. Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., trailed by half a point. Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France were third on 68.20. "This is definitely where we want to be, in the attacking position of the top spot, because we feel that we put great work into this season especially and we want to end on a high note and put out two solid performances," said Poje. Torontos Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., were 10th with 59.42 points. Alexandra Paul of Midhurst, Ont., and Mitchell Islam of Barrie, Ont., scored 57.68 points for 11th place heading into Saturdays free dance. Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, the top-ranked Russians, were forced to withdraw after Soloviev injured his groin in the morning practice. Defending champions and Olympic gold medallists Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States were not taking part. The ice dance concludes on Saturday with the free dance. Japanese teenager Yuzuru Hanyu came back with a brilliant free skate to become the first man in 12 years on Friday to win the Olympic and world figure skating titles in the same year. The 19-year-old Hanyu, who trailed compatriot Tatsuki Machida by nearly seven points after the world championships short program, produced a near-flawless free skate to finish with 282.59 points, just three-tenths of a point ahead of Machida. Javier Fernandez of Spain was third with 275.93. "That was very close," Hanyu said. "I work hard to become a skater who can always end with strong performances. I felt the responsibility to win the event." Hanyu fell twice during the free skate at the Sochi Olympics but had no falls on Friday. Skating to "Romeo and Juliet," he opened with a quad salchow and followed with a quad toeloop. His only deduction came on the triple flip and he got extra points on five straight jumps. The mens Olympic-worlds double was last achieved by Alexei Yagudin in 2002. Machida captured his first major medal with a graceful performance to Stravinskis "Firebird." "I showed everything I have at this moment," Machida said. "I tried to perform without caring about the score or ranking but it got into my head and I had a really tough four minutes." Fernandez, who was fourth in Sochi, was deducted points when he singled a planned triple lutz. "I popped the triple lutz," Fernandez said. "And I didnt do my quad salchow triple toeloop combination, but still it was a good program even though Yuzuru did better than me." Maxim Kotvun of Russia was fourth followed by Jeremy Abbott of the United States. Canadian Patrick Chan, who had won the last three world titles, decided to skip this years competition. Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., was the top Canadian in 11th place. Its been a tough season for Reynolds, who struggled with ill-fitting skates for several months. "The whole season was a giant learning experience, and I can take from that knowing I can still skate my best even though Im not feeling even close to where Id like to be in terms of being comfortable and being ready, being prepared," said Reynolds. "What I can take away from this is that even if Im not feeling 100 per cent, I know that I can still do the job, and that should give me confidence when I do feel good." World junior champion Nam Nguyen of Toronto was 12th while Elladj Balde of Pierrefonds, Que., was 18th. "Skating in front of 20,000 plus people, its amazing," said the 15-year-old Nguyen. "Im not intimidated at all. Im very excited to skate for them. I love to hear them cheer for me. I just want them to skate with me." -- With files from The Canadian Press Custom Football Jerseys Throwback .C. - Canadian ice dancing, it seems, is in good hands. Discount Football Jerseys Throwback . -- Craig Anderson has quite a record against his former team, the Florida Panthers. http://www.cheapfootballthrowback.com/ . Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Raptors have traded forward Steve Novak along with a second-round pick to the Utah Jazz in exchange for guard Diante Garrett - who will then be waived. Sale Football Jerseys Throwback . Future Hall of Famer Ricky Ray is in his prime and back for a third season in double blue. The 34-year old was magnificent in 2013, throwing for just under 2,900 yards despite missing eight games, tossing an impressive 21 touchdowns against just two interceptions, completing 66 per cent of his passes in the process. Stitched Football Jerseys Throwback . -- What Anthony Jennings lacked in experience, LSU more than compensated for with a talented supporting cast in the Outback Bowl.KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Alex Smiths efficient performance for the Kansas City Chiefs became even more impressive on Monday.The quarterback sprained his throwing shoulder late in the first half of Sundays game against the St. Louis Rams. Not only did Smith never miss a snap, he went on to complete 24 of 28 passes for 226 yards in what turned into a 34-7 rout at Arrowhead Stadium.Smith never mentioned the injury in his postgame remarks. It wasnt until Chiefs coach Andy Reid brought it up Monday that anybody learned of it outside the Kansas City locker room.He was able to obviously go through the game and everything worked out OK, but a bit sore today, Reid said. I believe it was right before halftime actually where it happened. He just kind of landed on it. Probably more of a bruise than anything, but it was tender.While the game turned into a lopsided affair, it was nip-and-tuck at the time. The teams were tied 7-all before the Chiefs Cairo Santos kicked a career-best 53-yyarder with 1 second left before the break.dddddddddddd Kansas City went on to score 24 unanswered points in the second half.Reid said Smith went through a series of examinations on Monday and there was no substantial damage to the shoulder. The coach declined to say whether Smith will practice as usual this week, but he did say his quarterback was upbeat about it.Just need a little time to get the soreness out of there, Reid said.The Chiefs play the struggling New York Jets on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. If Smith is limited in any way, backup quarterback Chase Daniel would be under centre.Reid did not have any update on the hamstring injuries sustained by cornerback Jamell Fleming and linebacker Josh Martin during the game. He did say that cornerback Chris Owens remains sidelined by a sprained knee and that safety Eric Berry continues to progress from a sprained ankle.Berry practiced last week but was inactive for the fifth straight game on Sunday. ' ' '