BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese figure skating pair skaters Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihang took the first place in the pairs short program of the ISU Figure Skating Olympic Qualifier here on Friday.

Zhang/Huang scored 66.68 points to top the rankings, 2.40 points ahead of the second-placed French pair Camille Kovalev and Pavel Kovalev, while Armenia's Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin currently ranked third in the pairs short program with 63.85 points.

"It was a great start for us. We handled the pressure today and will continue to adjust ourselves to an even better mindset," said the 18-year-old Zhang after the competition.

Huang, 23, noted, "We are here to compete for a Winter Olympic berth. It is an important but also challenging event for us. We feel honored to show ourselves and will try to further improve our performance in the pairs free skating on Saturday."

China's 17-year-old Zhang Ruiyang also enjoyed her skating at home, who grabbed 62.78 points to seize the fourth place in the women's short program, 5.94 points behind the first-placed Adeliia Petrosian of Russia.

In the rhythm dance, Lithuania's Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius earned 80.95 points to rank first, while Chinese pair skaters Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu were in the sixth place with 67.59 points.

Staged at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, the ISU Figure Skating Olympic Qualifier runs through Friday to Sunday, with more than 100 skaters competing for Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic berths.

Specifically, 17 figure skating slots for the Milan-Cortina 2026 will be decided in this event, with five in the men's singles and the women's singles respectively, three in the pairs, and four in the ice dance.

On Saturday, the men's short program, pairs free skating, and women's free skating will be on show.  ■