SAITAMA, Japan - Canadas Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford had a season-best score in the pairs short program Wednesday to sit in second place at the ISU world figure skating championships. Jack McKinney Jersey . Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., and Radford, from Balmertown, Ont., were second with 77.01 points, just behind Olympic bronze medallists Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany. The four-time world champs lead at 79.02 and Sochi silver medallists Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third with 76.15 points. "It was amazing," said Radford, who won world bronze last year with Duhamel. "We wish we could skate like that all the time. Most of this season, we tried so hard to please everyone and fight for every point. Today we were a lot more relaxed and its put us in a perfect spot heading into the free skate." Less than eight points separate the top five pairs. At the Games, Duhamel and Radford helped Canada to the silver medal in the team event and were seventh in pairs. "We came back from the Olympics feeling like we had achieved all our goals," said Duhamel. "We feel very settled but from this point on were going to be competing for ourselves and not worry about every little point." Tatsuki Machida of Japan upstaged compatriot and Olympic gold medallist Yuzuru Hanyu on Wednesday to finish first in the mens short program. Machida, who was fifth at last months Sochi Games, hit all his jumps and scored a career-high 98.21 points to finish ahead of Javier Fernandez of Spain, who had 96.42 points. Three-time world champion Patrick Chan of Toronto is skipping the championships. The mens event concludes with the free skate on Friday. Skating to music from the movie "East of Eden," Machida electrified the capacity crowd of 18,000 at Saitama Super Arena with a near-flawless routine that opened with a quad toe loop, triple toe loop combination. The 24-year-old Machida also included a triple Axel and a triple Lutz in his routine. "I got motivated when I saw Hanyu win the gold in Sochi," Machida said. "I think this is the best chance Ill have to get a medal and will do my best in the free skate. I was able to get a lot of positive energy from the crowd tonight." Hanyu fell on the opening quad toe loop and finished with 91.24 points for third place. "Needless to say the toe loop wasnt good," Hanyu said. "But how I jumped wasnt that bad so I am going to adjust for the free program." Fernandez, who was fourth in Sochi, impressed the judges with a dynamic routine and got high marks for a triple Lutz, triple toe loop combination. "One skater did better than me but I am still happy with my performance," Fernandez said. "Sometimes its hard to get motivated right after the Olympics by my coaches told me to work hard and I can see that hard works pays off." Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic was fourth, followed by Han Yan of China. Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., was 15th, world junior champion Nam Nguyen of Toronto was 16th and Elladj Balde of Pierrefonds, Que., was 22nd. Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto were sixth in the pairs while Paige Lawrence of Kennedy, Sask., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., were 12th. In Sochi, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch contributed to Canadas team silver and were fifth in the pairs. "It was nice to skate the program clean one last time. All those run-throughs paid off," Moore-Towers said. "I felt great, calm and confident," added Moscovitch. "The skate felt good. Our goal is to skate to clean programs and we are halfway there." The pairs event concludes Thursday with the free skate. "I think youll find there is an easier sense of flow throughout the program," Radford said. "Weve just made some little adjustments to free up the program and when weve been skating it in practice, it feels lighter and smoother and it feels easier for us to just let it go and enjoy the moment." The womens short program is also scheduled for Thursday. ——— With files from The Associated Press. Chuck Person Jersey . -- Canadian ski cross star Marielle Thompson accomplished two goals in one race Saturday. Malcolm Brogdon Jersey . -- Michael Phelps is 0 for 1 in his comeback to the pool. https://www.cheappacers.com/ ." Also, defencemen "were found to be at a higher risk of suffering a concussion than other players, perhaps due to turning their back to retrieve pucks along the boards, which leaves them vulnerable.HONG KONG - Jyoti Randhawa shot a 6-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Hong Kong Open on Thursday.Angelo Que (65) was in second place, one ahead of group of nine others at 66 that included four-time major champion Ernie Els.Els, who turns 45 on Friday, was playing in his first tournament during a month-long Asian swing which will also take him to Macau and China.I missed three very makeable putts on the back nine and that hurt a little bit, Els said after carding six birdies and two bogeys.The Hong Kong Open is sanctioned by both the European Tour and the Asian Tour and is being played for the second time on the Europeaan Tour calendar. Jonathan Bender Jersey. Four-time champion Miguel Angel Jimenez (72) struggled with the after-effects of food poisoning. The 50-year-old Spaniard won the Hong Kong Open in 2004, 07, 12 and 13.I was cramping badly and was very sick. I had been vomiting and going out all night. I couldnt even sleep, said Jimenez, who is bidding to join Tiger Woods, Tom Watson and Bernhard Langer as the only people to have won the same tournament five times.Que, who is from the Philippines, shot his first bogey-free round of the year.I putted like a maniac, Que said. My first birdie putt was a 40-footer and after than things just fell into place. ' ' '