Chan favourite at F skating worlds, Wagner aims for top

Canada's Patrick Chan is favourite to defend his men's crown as Ashley Wagner will be bidding to put the US back among the elite of women's figure skating at the world championships starting on Wednesday. While Chan has dominated this season, and is tipped to claim a second world title in Nice, Wagner has emerged as a contender after beating two-time world champion Mao Asada of Japan at the Four Continents championships last month. The 20-year-old from California is returning to the worlds for the first time since 2008 when she finished just 16th in a team which performed so badly the US women's berths for international events dropped from three to two. And with the 2014 Sochi Olympics less than two years away Wagner and teammate Alissa Czisny will be pushing for a good result which will get them a combined placement of 13th at least to send three women to the 2013 world championships. The last time the United States took gold was in 2006 when Kimmie Meissner won the title and teammate Sasha Cohen bronze. Since then Japan have won four of the five world titles - Asada and Miki Ando have two each - with Olympic champion Kim Yu-Na of South Korea taking gold in 2009, as the Asian trio claimed 11 of the 15 medals on offer. Defending champion Ando and last year's runner-up Kim are not competing this season, with Asian hopes resting largely on Olympic silver medallist Asada, competing despite a season interrupted following the death of her mother. "I feel like I am climbing up the staircase, step by step, toward the world championships," said 2008 and 2010 winner Asada, who has begun to get the grip on her trademark triple axel jump again and wants to do better than last year's sixth. Four-time European champion Carolina Kostner, the reigning world bronze medallist, is among the leading title challengers after a strong season which saw the Italian win the Grand Prix Final title ahead of Japan's Akiko Suzuki. Former world junior champion Alena Leonova will be looking to get Russia back on the podium for the first time since 2005. In the men's event, 21-year-old's Chan's challengers include Japan's 2010 world champion Daisuke Takahashi, runner-up behind the Canadian at the ISU Grand Prix Final and the Four Continents Championships. Defending world bronze medallist Artur Gachinski of Russia is also targetting the top spot along with reigning world silver medallist Takahiko Kozuka and fellow Japanese skater Yuzuru Hanyu. Others medal hopes include Americans Jeremy Abbott and Adam Rippon, Czech skaters Tomas Verner and Michal Brezina, Grand Prix Final bronze medallist Javier Fernandez of Spain, with home hopes lying with 2007 world champion Brian Joubert and 2011 European champion Florent Amodio. In the pairs event, three-time champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany will renew their battle with last year's silver medallists Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia. The Germans won the Grand Prix Final ahead of the Russians by 0.18 points. But the Russians took the European title as the Germans were absent through injury. In ice dancing, Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White will defend their title faced with their great rivals - Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. The preliminary rounds take place on Monday and Tuesday with the official competition starting on Wednesday with the pairs short dance.