Russias Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov are holding a convincing lead in pairs figure skating going into Wednesdays free skate, winning the short program handily with a final score of 84.17. The clear favourite to win the gold medal in pairs on Wednesday, the duo skated a near-perfect routine in front of a wildly supportive hometown crowd. Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy from Germany, also looking strong in their short program, came in second with a score of 79.64. The duo performed a routine inspired by the Pink Panther. "We wanted to show that it was easy. We skated it for the fans," Savchenko says. "When youre having fun doing your routine and the audience goes with it, it just makes you feel good and less nervous." Szolkowy says that "we had a good feeling, indeed the most important thing was to skate clean. "Were glad that we did all our elements since we want to fight for the gold. The points dont matter for now. Lets see what comes out in the end." Third-place went to another Russian duo of Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov, scoring 75.21. on their routine. All three Canadian pairs also advanced to Wednesdays free skate finale. Meagan Duhamel of St-Leonard, Que., and Eric Radford of Toronto finished their short program as the highest ranking Canadians of the night, scoring 72.21 and finishing in fifth place. The duo enjoyed a solid routine with only a minor mistake on a triple lutz spin. Duhamel says it wasnt easy for her and Radford to skate right after eventual third-place finishers Stolbova and Klimov. "It was very difficult to skate after the hometown team. It sounds like a hockey game out there," Duhamel says. "We made some minor mistakes, but Im proud of what we were able to do in that circumstance." "We want a medal really bad, but for us skating the free skate of a lifetime would be worth more than gold, Duhamel says. Radford, who composed the pairs short program song in tribute to his late coach Paul Wirtz, says he "enjoyed every minute" of his short program experience. "Being out there, every moment is an amazing and unforgettable memory." Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catherines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto placed sixth in their short program, scoring 70.92. The couple skated a solid routine as the final performers of the evening. Moore-Towers says that she wasnt nervous heading out onto the ice. "I think the real win tonight was how comfortable we were out there." Moscovitch says that before the couple performed their short program routine, he told Moore-Towers to "leave everything we have on the floor, lets just leave it all out on the ice." "We had a lot of fun out there," Moscovitch says. Paige Lawrence of Kennedy, Sask., and Rudi Swiegers of Virden, Man., in their first Olympics, skated to a score of 58.97. The couples training has been hampered all season by injuries, with Lawrence saying she is about "80 per cent good" in her recovery from a leg injury. Lawrence touched down twice during the couples routine, which led to their 13th place finish. Wholesale China Jerseys . So it was understandable if he was a little shaky early in his return to the Texas Rangers rotation. He spent most of the outing searching for his best stuff, but still managed to shut down the struggling Minnesota Twins offence. Cheap NFL Jerseys . -- Conner Bleackley got it done in regulation time and in the shootout. http://www.jerseysnflcheap.us/ . Ramirez is still hitting behind Puig, only now they are in the third and fourth spots, and the change is starting to generate positive results for manager Don Mattingly. Wholesale Jerseys Outlet . Kalish got his first hit since Sept. 11, 2012, when he rapped an RBI triple in the first inning Sunday in the Chicago Cubs 8-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Cheap Jerseys USA . JOHNS, N.CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Junior Hockey League, announced Friday that Kindersley, Sask., will host the 2014 World Junior A Challenge from Dec. 14-20, 2014. The 2014 tournament will mark the return of the World Junior A Challenge to the province of Saskatchewan for the first time since Yorkton and Humboldt hosted the inaugural event in 2006. The 2014 World Junior A Challenge will follow the same format as previous years - two Canadian entries will be joined by four international teams, with two groups of three teams. The group winners will receive an automatic bye to the semifinals, while the second-place and third-place teams will crossover for the quarter-finals. The 2014 World Junior A Challenge will be based out of the West Central Events Centre, home of the SJHLs Kindersley Klippers, with surrounding communities also hosting games. Ticket information for the 2014 World Junior A Challenge will be announced in the coming months. "Few provinces in Canada have a Junior A hockey history like Saskatchewan, and were thrilled to be taking the World Junior A Challenge back to the Prairies," said Bob Nicholson, president and CEO of Hockey Canada. "Were confident Kindersley will put on a world-class event and show our international visitors just what hockey means to small-town Canada." "The CJHL continues to produce elite-level prospects and players, and the World Junior A Challenge is a tremendous opportunity to showcase the exciting talent developing at the Junior A level," said CJHL president and chairman Kirk Lamb. "Saskatchewan and the SJHL have a rich history of Junior A hockey and we are excited for our players, parents, scouts and fans to be able to take thiis world-class event to such a proud and storied hockey province and league.dddddddddddd" "We are thrilled to host the 2014 World Junior A Challenge and look forward to welcoming the best Junior A players for an exciting week of hockey," said Rocky Perkins, chair of the host committee. "We are proud to welcome the players, their families and hockey fans from across Western Canada to our community during this exciting week. Along with the Klippers organization, other community and hockey partners and our dedicated Kindersley volunteers, we want to create an amazing experience for all fans and participants." Since the first World Junior A Challenge in 2006, more than 100 NHL draft picks have played in the tournament, including 18 first-round selections (Beau Bennett, Alexander Burmistrov, Joe Colborne, Nikita Filatov, Mikhail Grigorenko, Dmitri Kulikov, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Elias Lindholm, Hampus Lindholm, John Moore, Vladislav Namestnikov, Riley Nash, Valeri Nichushkin, Dylan Olsen, Jordan Schmaltz, Jaden Schwartz, Brendan Smith, Kyle Turris, Alexander Wennberg, Andrei Vasilevski and Nail Yakupov). Six of the seven gold medal games at the World Junior A Challenge have featured at least one Canadian team. Canada West won gold at the first two tournaments, in 2006 and 2007, before taking the top prize in 2011; it also earned silver in 2008, 2009 and 2012, and won bronze in 2013. Canada East was silver medallist in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011, and claimed bronze in 2008. Kindersley joins Yorkton and Humboldt, Trail and Nelson, B.C. (2007); Camrose, Alta. (2008); Summerside, P.E.I. (2009); Penticton, B.C. (2010); Langley, B.C. (2011); and Yarmouth, N.S. (2012, 2013) as host cities for the World Junior A Challenge. ' ' '