Plushenko on form for 10th national title

Russia's 2006 Olympic champion Yevgeny Plushenko grabbed the lead in the men's competition at the Russian figure skating championships on Tuesday at the venue in Sochi where he hopes to crown his career with a second Olympic title in 2014. The 30-year-old former three-time world champion, who is bidding for his 10th national title at the newly-built 12,000-seat Iceberg arena, received 91.68 points for his short programme. He is 3.99 points ahead of Sergei Voronov, who is second after the short programme, while Maxim Kovtun is third after the first day of the championships with 75.38 points. Plushenko said that even after returning from a second knee operation - which he underwent after winning the European titlke in January ruling him out of March's world championships - he still doesn't feel 100%. "I still experience certain health problems but I hope I can cope with them," Plushenko said. "The Russian championships is a very important tournament for me and I hope to win it for the 10th time. "I will do everything I can in my power to win here." In the pairs competition the European champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, who won the Grand Prix finals earlier this month, took the lead after the first day with 78.69 points. They are 8.5 points ahead of Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov, while Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov are third on 67.78 points. "Last year we missed the national championships because of injuries. And we're really pleased with an opportunity to compete at the event again," Trankov said. Meanwhile, two-time European championship silver medallists Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev lead the dancing section after the free dance. "It wasn't our best performance today but it wasn't the worst one also," Soloviev said. "We still have enough time ahead of the European championships to improve both technical and emotional components of our dance."