Germans win fourth world pairs title

Germans Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy won a tight battle for gold to claim their fourth pairs crown at the world figure skating championships here on Friday. Russia's Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov took silver for the second straight year with Japan's Narumi Takahashi and Mervin Tran winning bronze after the free skating final. Skating to the Pina, the Germans grabbed the title by just 0.11 points after a stunning performance by Volosozhar and Trankov saw the Russians jump from eighth position after the short programme. Takahashi and Tran gave Japan a first world pairs medal at the expense of former two-time world champions Pang Qing and Tong Jian of China. Savchenko and Szolkowy are the first pairs skaters to win four world titles since Soviet duo Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov in the 1980s.