Germany's Savchenko, Szolkowy retain pairs' figure skating gold

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Germany's Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy snatched a comprehensive victory to retain the pairs title at the World Figure Skating Championships on Wednesday.

The defending champions dominated in a strong program that earned 203.48 points, out of reach for second-placed duo Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao, who finished with 186.52.

It was the second straight silver medal for the Chinese team who finished ahead of Russian bronze medalists Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov, who had 186.39 points.

Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett were the highest placed Americans, ninth with 156.84 points.

Frenchman Brian Joubert took the short program earlier in the day, taking a slim lead over Evan Lysacek heading into Thursday's free skate.

Joubert, the 2007 champion, rebounded from a minor miscue during his program to earn 84.40 points.

Canadian Patrick Chan, who exchanged some unkind words with Joubert earlier this week, lies third, followed by Tomas Verner and Takahiko Kozuka.

Crowd-favorite Lysacek put on a spectacular performance with big jumps and spins that put him in strong position heading into Thursday.

(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by N.Ananthanarayanan; To comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)