BEIJING, Feb. 13 -- Chinese pair Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao, whose routine to Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" rocked the nearly full arena Saturday night in the Turin Winter Olympics, won second place in the short program.

    They followed two-time world champions Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin of Russia, while China's Pang Qing and Tong Jian, and Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo were fourth and fifth respectively.

    Zhang-Zhang began with an intricate one-armed lift that led to a big throw triple loop, energizing the crowd ¡ª particularly the Chinese fans who shook colorful rattles shaped like hands and held up banners supporting their skaters.

    The Zhangs, who are not related, closed with a huge double twist that could have been a quad if it was permitted, and a complex combination spin. The 2005 world bronze medalists slapped hands at the end, then saw a personal-best 64.72 points go up on the board.

    That put them ahead until almost the end, when "Tot and Max" took the ice.

    "We both have one aim," Zhang Dan said. "We wanted to perform our best in the Olympic Games.¡±

    Their countrymen, two-time world champions and Salt Lake City bronze medalists Shen and Zhao, were happy simply to skate at all.

    Zhao has made an amazingly quick comeback from a torn Achilles' tendon in August. He only began triple jumps last week, but he hit his triple toe loop while Shen was touching the ice with her hand Saturday night.

    "The power is not sufficient, but the performance I am happy for," he said.

    Totmianina and Marinin easily were the best in the event. They earned 68.64 points, with the highest totals for both technique and components.

    They were so good the crowd was hushed for much of the performance, the near silence broken only by the sound of their blades majestically cutting through the ice.

    The free skate is Monday night, when "Tot and Max" could become the 12th straight Russian pair to win this Olympic title.

    Totmianina and Marinin skated as one to "Snowstorm" by Georgi Sviridov. Their side-by-side triple toe loops were flawless, and they finished with a superb string of combination spins.

    Inoue and Baldwin's triple followed the one they did last month at the U.S. nationals and helped get them 61.27 points.

    In the third place were Russia's Maria Petrova, skating on a sore ankle, and Alexei Tikhonov with a clean performance including a complex lift, during which he swung her between his legs and into the air, followed by a neat twisting dismount.

    In the new format, only nine of the 12 judges who score the event count, and the high and low scores are thrown out.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)