Spain's Fernandez shines at Skate Canada

Spain's Javier Fernandez outshined reigning world champion Patrick Chan and 2010 world champion Daisuke Takahashi to win the men's short programme at Skate Canada. The 20-year-old from Madrid, performing to "I Love Paris" by The Witnesses, scored 84.71 points to edge Japan's Takahashi by .05 for the victory with Canada's Chan, the defending Skate Canada champion, third with 83.28 points. Any of the three could win the overall title with a victory in Saturday's free skate final at the second stop on the global Grand Prix tour that marks the start of the 2011-2012 figure skating season. World junior runner-up Elizaveta Tuktamisheva of Russia won the women's short programme in her senior-level ISU Grand Prix debut. Tuktamisheva, who turns 15 in December, unveiled a Tango routine for 59.57 points from judges to 54.50 for US runner-up Ashley Wagner. American Rachael Flatt was third on 54.23 with Japan's Akiko Suzuki fourth on 52.82. Reigning Winter Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada won the ice dance short programme with 71.61 points for their Samba-Rhumba routine, 8.30 points ahead of runner-up couple Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje. European champions Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France withdrew because Bourzat is suffering from bronchitis. Russians Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, runners-up at the world championships last May on home ice, won the pairs short programme with 70.42 points. Canada's Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford were second on 62.37. Men's, women's and pairs crowns will be decided on Saturday with the ice dance final set for Sunday.