SAITAMA, Japan - Four-time world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany finished first after the pairs short program at World Figure Skating Championships on Wednesday. Two-time Olympic bronze medallists Savchenko and Szolkowy received 79.02 points to finish ahead of world bronze medallists Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada, who had 77.01 points. Olympic silver medallists Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third with 76.15 points. The mens short program is later Wednesday when Japanese teenager Yuzuru Hanyu is aiming to add a world title to his Olympic gold medal. The pairs event concludes Thursday with the free skate. A total of 177 skaters from 38 countries are competing in the March 26-30 worlds at Saitama Arena on the outskirts of Tokyo. Andrew Benintendi Red Sox Jersey . - On the night Dirk Nowitzki overtook Dominique Wilkins on the career scoring list, Brandan Wright was a human highlight film all by himself. Pablo Sandoval Red Sox Jersey . With their coach gone, they finally played offence the way he would have wanted. Amare Stoudemire made all seven shots in the first half, Anthony passed and shot well, and the Knicks shook off the surprising departure of their coach to rout the Portland Trail Blazers 121-79 on Wednesday night, snapping a six-game losing streak. https://www.cheapredsox.com/2451z-chris-owings-jersey-red-sox.html . It was a move of some time in the making. “He hasnt thrown well, clearly some guys are being used more than him right now and the only way to get out of this funk is to pitch,” said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. Nomar Garciaparra Jersey . Tokarski, a somewhat controversial choice -- with his 10 games of NHL experience and all -- to replace an injured Carey Price in Game Two had a night to remember, turning back a Rangers team that was dominating play from the get-go, outshooting the Canadiens 14-4 in the first period and 37-25 overall. David Ortiz Red Sox Jersey . Ireland was the last unbeaten side in the championship after France fell to Wales on Friday, and was favoured to end a three-match losing run to England with a side with more than twice as many caps, rampant momentum, and added incentive to celebrate Brian ODriscolls world record-tying 139th test cap.BEIJING -- Canadas Kevin Koe swept his games Thursday to qualify for the 1-2 Page Playoff game at the world mens curling championship. Koe and his Calgary-based team opened with an 11-5 win over Germanys John Jahr at Capital Gymnasium and then locked up second place with a 7-5 victory over Scotlands Ewan MacDonald. "We woke up today just worried about making sure that we made the playoffs," Koe said. "We lose that game and we could be in a tiebreaker or something. The big thing was just to win and get in the playoffs and if we were in the 3-4 game, that was fine with us. Weve done it before. "But to get in the 1-2 game with an extra life, thats a bonus for sure." The winner of Saturdays 1-2 game will advance straight to Sundays final. The loser will play the winner of the 3-4 Page Playoff game in the semifinal. The semifinal winner will play for gold and the loser will fall into the bronze-medal game against the 3-4 loser. Koe built a big early lead in the opening game after German fourth Felix Schulze crashed his last stone on a guard in the second end. That gave Canada a steal of four and Koe added four more points in the fourth end to put the game out of reach. In the afternoon draw, Scotland was out of playoff contention but still gave Koe a tough test. The veteran skip took the lead for the first time in the sixth end with a draw for two points. He sealed the win with a runback double takeout in the 10th end. "It seems like all of our games, either weve won easy or lost easy," Koe said. "So its good for us to have a battle, tied up or close the whole way through, and to pull it out with a shot in the 10th feels good." Norway (10-1) closed with a 7-6 extra-end victory over Switzerlands Peter De Cruz.dddddddddddd "Now weve got two chances to go to the final," Ulsrud said. "Ive never been world champion, so thats my dream." The Swiss team rebounded for an 8-5 win over the United States in the evening draw to earn the third seed with a 7-4 record. Sweden and Japan also finished at 7-4 and will play a tiebreaker for the other spot in the 3-4 game. The Czech Republic and host China were tied in sixth place at 6-5. Germany was next at 5-6, followed by the United States and Scotland at 3-8. Russia and Denmark were tied for last place at 2-9. Jahr announced his retirement after his German rink closed with a 10-3 rout of Scotland. Koe won gold in his lone previous appearance at this event, taking top spot at the 2010 playdowns in Cortina dAmpezzo, Italy. Ulsrud, who beat Koe 9-5 earlier this week, is hoping to win Norways first world mens gold since 1998. "I like where we are considering how hard weve had to battle," Koe said. "We havent always been at our best. If we can find our A game in the playoffs, I like our chances. And even if we keep playing the way we are, were kind of used to it. Im looking forward (to Saturday). "Theyre a great team and obviously theyve had a great week. I dont think the first time we played them that the score was indicative of the way the game was played, just a couple of missed line calls and it could have been anybodys game. "But I like our chances." Canada has won gold at this event in three of the last four years and has qualified for the championship game in each of the last nine years. ' ' '