Autumn Classic International: Duhamel, Radford win gold in pairs

Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., won the gold medal in pairs on Thursday at the Autumn Classic International figure skating competition in Barrie, Ont.

The duo earned 202.61 points in their season debut, while the pairs of Marissa Castelli and Mervin Tran and Jessica Pfund and Joshua Santillan, both from the U.S., finished second with 177.86 points, and third with 149.25 points, respectively.

Duhamel and Radford were in first place after the short program on Wednesday. 

Brittany Jones and Joshua Reagan of Toronto were fourth at 144.55, followed by Hayleigh Bell of Acton, Ont., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., at 135.43.

In ice dancing, it was a one-two finish for Canada. Nicole Orford of Burnaby, B.C. and Asher Hill of Pickering, Ont., earned top spot on the podium with a 146.65-point performance.  Andréanne Poulin of Ile-Bizard, Que., and Marc-André Servant of Vaudreuil, Que., moved up from fourth after the short dance to capture silver.

''Our programs are coming together really well,'' said Orford.

''So well, that sometimes we forget we are a new team. We are both perfectionists because our previous partnerships were so successful, so we need to remind ourselves we've only skated for three months.''

Meanwhile Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan won the gold medal in men's singles with 277.19 points. He was followed by Canadian champion Nam Nguyen of Toronto, who came away with silver. Sean Rabbitt of the U.S. finished third. 

Elizabet Tursynbayeva of Kazakhstan won the gold in the women's competition. Roxanne Rhéault of Victoriaville, Que. was the top Canadian with a fifth-place result.