Figure Skating

TOKYO - World ice dance champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia have pulled out of the November 6-8 NHK Trophy of the figure skating Grand Prix series, organisers said Thursday.

The 27-year-old Shabalin is suffering from arthritis in his left knee, the Japan Skating Federation said in a statement.

The NHK Trophy, the fourth leg of the six-round series, will be held at the Big Hat arena in Nagano, Japan.

The Russian duo will be replaced by China's Huang Xintong and Zheng Xun, who finished 22nd at the world championships in Los Angeles in March.
The NHK Trophy ice dance field will be led by the US duo of Meryl Davis and Charlie White, fourth at the worlds.

American Kimmie Meissner, the 2006 world women's champion who has already pulled out of the Cup of Russia and the NHK Trophy due to a knee injury, will be replaced by Russian Oksana Gozeva in Nagano, the federation said.

Gozeva, 19, placed ninth at the world junior championships.