Kim off to promising start at Worlds

Reigning Olympic champ Kim Yu-na gave herself high marks for her performance in the World Figure Skating Championship Thursday which marks her return to ISU competition after a two-year hiatus. The judges were not quite as impressed but the crowd love it, rewarding her 'Kiss of the Vampire' short routine with a standing ovation at the Budweiser Gardens arena. Although the South Korean superstar topped the field in the women's opening round at the ISU world figure skating championships ahead of defending champ Carolina Kostner, the adjudicators found fault with the level of difficulty for her spins and were stingy with their performance quality scores. Kim earned 69.97 points, well off her record score of 78.50 set in the Olympic year. Still, she is well-positioned to win her second world title in Saturday’s final considering the subpar result of Mao Asada, her long-time archrival from Japan. "I felt confident to be back on the ice," Kim said through an interpreter. "When I heard the score, I was a little bit surprised and thought maybe I got a downgrade for spins. "The first spin was a little unstable but because I did my best, I would give myself a full 100 per cent." Asada landed her trademark triple Axel on two feet although it appeared fully rotated, but her downfall was a planned triple loop which popped open in mid-air and turned just once. Asada, undefeated this season in ISU competition after struggling to retool her jumps the previous two years, is back in sixth place with 62.1 points. Kanako Murakami, the third Japanese entry here, was the surprise of the afternoon, finishing in third place with 66.64 points just behind Italy’s Kostner who scored 66.86 despite a hard fall on the second jump in her triple-triple combination. Canadian Kaetlyn Osmond, just 17 and making her senior worlds debut, put an impressive 64.37points on the board with a saucy Mambo interpretation. American Ashley Wagner is fifth (63.98) and, along with Osmond, Asada and her countrywoman Akiko Suzuk (seventh with 61.17), still in contention for a medal. Gold would be a stretch, though, unless Kim falters. Besides aspiring to land on the podium here and establish their status as frontrunners for the 2014 Olympic podium in Sochi, the elite competitors here are on a mission to earn their countries maximum entries for the Sochi Games. "My first goal is to get more than two tickets for the Olympic Games for Korea. Beside myself, I would like young Korean skaters to experience the Olympic Games," Kim said. To accomplish that, Kim would have to finish first or second. Competition continues later Thursday with the ice dancers’ opening round. From : AFP