Figure Skating

Patrick Chan scored just 68.64 for his short program to Tango de los Exilados at Skate Canada International in Kitchener, Friday, finishing the day in sixth.

The 18-year-old Toronto native sat out last month's Rostelecom Cup in Russia to heal from a muscle tear.

Chan fell on his first jump of the day - a triple Axel - and continued to wobble his way through the rest of the program, even having trouble with his typically solid spins. He said a shaky start was to be expected.

"I got it out there, got the first one over with. The first one's always tough," he said, "It would have definitely been weird if I had done a clean short the first time. I felt good. It felt good to be back, for sure."

American skater Jeremy Abbott came out on top for the day, scoring 79.00 for his skate to A Day in the Life by the Beatles.

Japan's Daisuke Takahashi, of Japan (76.30), and Denis Ten, of Kazakhstan (75.45), were second and third, respectively.

Joey Russell, 21, made his Grand Prix debut, Friday, finishing the short program in ninth place.

Jeremy Ten, a Vancouver native, had a tough skate to Come Together by Melo-M. The 20-year-old fell on all three jumps to start off his program, skating to a 45.14 score and finishing the day in last place.

"It was really tough," Ten said, after his skate, "I've never felt so good coming into a competition... To do that, just hurt."

In the compulsory dance portion of the ice dance competition earlier Friday, Scott Moir of Ilderton, Ont., and Tessa Virtue, of London, Ont., came out ahead by more than five points over second-placed Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France.

Moir and Virtue scored a personal best score of 40.69 for their Tango Romantica dance. Their previous best was a 39.37 score at the 2009 world championships, where they earned bronze.

Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje also used the tango to skate to a personal best. The duo was in third after the compulsory with a 32.18-point score.

Joannie Rochette led the ladies' competition after Friday's short program while Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison are third going into their free skate.

The men's, ladies' and pairs' competitions conclude Saturday, while the ice dance is scheduled to conclude on Sunday.