Papadakis, Cizeron of France clinch fourth world title

Pyeongchang Olympic runners-up Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France won the ice dance gold medal at the 2019 ISU Figure Skating World Championships here on Saturday.

Papadakis and Cizeron scored their personal best free dance in 134.23 points, also a world record, and combined 222.65 to win the title. They were nearly 11 points clear of the runners-up, Russian Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov, who collected 211.76.

American's Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue ranked third with 210.40.

China's Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu took the 15th with an overall point of 173.89, 105.42 in free skate, also their personal best.

Wang/Liu was the only Asian pair qualified for the free dance.

"We hope we can prove ourselves," said Liu. "This time our technique score was good."

"We really like this program and we're happy with our performance here. It's been so nice to have so many of our training friends here with us, it's like being with family," he added.

The pair now trained in Montreal with foreign coaches, and they've made big improvement.

"It is our first year in Montreal," said Wang. "We need more time to communicate with the coach."

The 15th place is their best finish at World Championships.