China's Peng Cheng/Wang Lei rank 6th in Four Continents pairs event

SHANGHAI, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- China's Peng Cheng and Wang Lei took sixth place after the pairs free skate at the Four Continents figure skating championship in Shanghai on Saturday.

The duo collected 120.04 points in the free skate for a total of 180.22. Peng was not in top form due to a left foot injury and fell down in their opening triple toeloop.

"I needed to take painkillers before the competition," said 26-year-old Peng, who had taken the silver medal at the 2020 Four Continents along with Jin Yang. "It is our first season since we paired up. We need to make improvement in many aspects."

Fellow Chinese pair Zhang Siyang and Yang Yongchao ranked 10th with 157.32 points after having failed to finish one of their lifts. Wang Yuchen and Zhu Lei ranked last of the 12 pairs.

Canada's Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps won the pairs gold medal. The duo were ahead going into the free skate and maintained that momentum with a total score of 198.80.

Defending champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan came second overall with 190.77, while the United States' Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea were third with 187.28.

"We're very happy with our result but we know that we can do even better than this, so this just gives us a starting point for [the World Championships]," 40-year-old Stellato-Dudek said. ■