Figure Skating

NAGANO, Japan - Canada's Mylène Brodeur and John Mattatall captured fifth place in pairs at the NHK Trophy Grand Prix figure skating event Saturday, while Cynthia Phaneuf finished sixth in women's singles.

Vanessa Crone of Aurora, Ont., and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., moved up one spot in the original dance to head into Sunday's free dance in third place.

Brodeur, from Stanbridge-Station, Que., and Mattatall, from Wallace, N.S., improved a spot after finishing sixth in Friday's short program, but said they still have work to do.

"Overall the event was OK for us, but we made little mistakes and in the end left points on the table,'' Brodeur said. "We came here hoping we could win a medal. We are pleased that we executed the big elements but we definitely need more consistency in our programs.''

China's Pang Qing and Tong Jian won the pairs with 199.65 points followed by Russians Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov with 193.05. Americans Rena Inoue and John Baldwin were third with 158.78.

Paige Lawrence of Kennedy, Sask., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., were seventh in their senior Grand Prix debut.

Japan's Miki Ando won the women's singles, overtaking American Ashley Wagner in the free skate to capture her second Grand Prix of the season.

Ando, who won the Rostelecom Cup in Russia, landed six triple jumps in her routine to Cleopatra to finish with 162.55 points. Russia's Alena Leonova was second with 160.85, while Wagner was third with 155.99.

Phaneuf, from Contrecoeur, Que., landed five triple jumps in her first Grand Prix of the season, earning the second highest technical marks for her long program.

"That's unusual for me because I usually score lower on the technical side,'' Phaneuf said. "I was quite pleased when I finished my skate but my component score was hard to take. I thought it should have been better.''

Brian Joubert of France won the men's singles, capturing his first Grand Prix title of the season with a strong performance in the free skate.

Crone and Poirier recorded a season's best score for their Flamenco routine in the original dance to move up to third.

"It was superior to what we did two weeks ago in Russia,'' said Poirier, who was fourth with Crone at the Grand Prix stop in Moscow. "We improved the footwork, delivered a clean technical performance and we felt our level of expression was much better.''

Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States are in top spot, while Sinead Kerr and John Kerr of Britain are second. Allie Hann-McCurdy of Nanaimo, B.C., and Michael Coreno of Delhi, Ont., are ninth.

Joubert, first after the short program, landed a quadruple toe loop at the start of his routine to strengthen his lead and finished with 232.70 points for a 15-point margin over Johnny Weir of the United States. Michal Brezina of the Czech Republic was third with 217.48 points.

Jeremy Ten of Vancouver finished 10th, while Vaughn Chipeur of Calgary was 11th.

"The long program was a fight but I never gave up,'' Ten said. "It was a great learning experience to be here amongst such a strong field. It was like a mini world championships.''

Joubert tripled a planned quad Salchow for his second element and did a triple toe loop instead of a quad later in his routine.

"I want to show that I am not just a jumper but a figure skater,'' Joubert said. "My goal was to do three quads, but I also wanted to show good choreography and good steps.''

Joubert, the 2007 world champion, finished fourth at the Trophee Bompard in Paris, but improved his chances of qualifying for the Dec. 3-6 Grand Prix final.

Weir started off strong with a triple flip and a triple Axel, triple toe loop combination but lost stamina as the program went on.

He doubled a planned triple toe loop and failed to do the double toe loop on the next two combination jumps.

"In the Olympic season, I wanted to show a program that is pure and from the heart,'' Weir said. "I was happy that I was able to do that today.''