BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- 2022 Winter Olympic champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong finished first in the pairs short program at the ISU Figure Skating Four Continents at home on Thursday.

China's Sui and Han led the field with 76.02 points, followed by Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi of Japan with 71.95 points, just 0.10 points ahead of the third-placed American pair Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov. Fellow Chinese pair Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihang scored 69.05 points to place fourth. The pairs free skate takes place on Saturday.

"We felt delighted to participate in the Four Continents Championships again. Our performance was not that perfect today. We need to forge ahead step by step to achieve higher goals at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics," said Han, 33, who has claimed six Four Continents titles together with Sui.

Japanese skaters led the women's short program, with 17-year-old Ami Nakai first on 73.83 points, 2.42 points ahead of runner-up Yuna Aoki, with Mone Chiba third on 68.07 points.

"I was in good form today to find my rhythm, which boosted my confidence in skating and jumping. I was satisfied with my performance today and will try to keep improving," said Nakai.

China's Zhu Yi, Zhang Ruiyang and An Xiangyi ranked 10th, 11th and 16th respectively in the women's short program.

American skaters took the top three places in the ice dance rhythm dance. Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik topped the rankings with 79.97 points, with Caroline Green and Michael Parsons second on 78.66 points, followed by Oona Brown and Gage Brown on 74.24 points.

Chinese pairs Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu, Ren Junfei and Xing Jianing, and Xiao Zixi and He Linghao placed 8th, 10th and 11th respectively.

"After the National Figure Skating Championships last month, we adjusted some details to make the show more impressive. We did great today but still have to do more to achieve our best," Liu said.

As the last ISU figure skating event before 2026 Winter Olympics, the Four Continents tournament runs Thursday through Sunday at Beijing's National Indoor Stadium.  ■