MOSCOW, March 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's...

The Russians earned 40.77 points on Tuesday for their outstanding performance of paso doble and were followed by Americans Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto with 39.65 points.

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada finished third, earning 39.37 points before Thursday's original dance and free dance on Friday.

In the short program, another Russian pair, Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov, failed to take the lead despite earning 68.94 points for their smooth and flawless performance of 'The Swan' on late Tuesday.

The Russian and Japanese were outclassed however by European champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany, who received a record 72.30 points for their energetic dance to the 'Lost in Space' theme.

With the free skate scheduled for Wednesday, China's Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao came third in the short program with 67.42 points.

Japan's Kawaguchi has been skating with Smirnov since early 2006. She and Smirnov

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