French team leads ice dancing at worlds

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, March 18 (UPI) -- The French team of Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder own the lead in Sweden after the compulsory dance round of the World Figure Skating Championships.

Delobel and Schoenfelder totaled 40.73 points Tuesday, more than 2 points ahead of Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who had 38.71. Delobel and Schoenfelder were given the highest scores in both technical elements and program component.

Russians Jana Kokhlova and Sergei Novitski (37.98) were third followed by Italians Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali (37.15).

The U.S. team of Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, who were considered the favorites after European champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin withdrew, fell during their dance and are well back in fifth place with 35.02 points. Only one other team in the 31-pair field fell and was given the mandatory 1-point deduction.

The teams skated to an Argentine tango in Tuesday's compulsory dance and next compete Thursday in the original dance with the free dance scheduled for Friday evening.