THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam of Barrie, Ont., captured a silver medal in ice dancing Friday at the world junior figure skating championships.
Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia led from start to finish and took the gold with 188.28 points. Paul and Islam finished with 172.37, while Ksenia Monko and Kirill Khaliavin of Russia took bronze with 168.81.
The Canadians were fifth after the compulsory dance on Tuesday then soared to second with a strong original dance. "It's incredible to get a medal," said Islam, who first teamed up with Paul in February 2009. "Our goal was a top-five so we are a bit overwhelmed. In the compulsory dance, I think we skated really well and got ourselves recognized and that helped us get the better marks in the other two programs." Paul and Islam have another year of junior eligibility.
"We just wanted to get out there and skate our best," Paul said. "We worked a lot on the free dance leading up to this event and I think we nailed it this time. The overall consistency in our programs is what has really improved for us this year."
Olivia Martins of Toronto and Alvin Chau of Richmond Hill, Ont., were 13th while Abby Carswell of Toronto and Andrew Doleman of Dundas, Ont., finished 23rd.
Kate Charbonneau of Winnipeg is fourth in women's singles after the short program. Anna Ovcharova of Russia leads with 59.80.
