Bermudian pairs figure skater Vanessa James and partner Morgan Cipres representing France finished in ninth place at the World Championships in Shanghai, China.

Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford broke Chinese hearts by outclassing home favourites Sui Wenjing and Han Cong to win their first pairs title.

James and Cipres finished in twelfth place in the short skate and then finished in eighth place in yesterday’s free skate with an overall total of 177.34 points.

With China hosting the event for the first time, there had been high hopes that Wenjing and Cong or stalwarts Pang Qing and Tong Jian would win the top prize in front of their boisterous fans.

But Duhamel and Radford prevented twice former world champions Pang and Tong, lying second after the short skate, from enjoying a rousing finale to their 22-year partnership with a total score of 221.53.

The Canadians were far from perfect, with Duhamel putting both hands down after a throw quadruple Salchow, while Radford lost his balance and went out of sync in the side-by-side combination spin.

But their superior footwork and precision enabled them to become the first Canadians to win the pairs world title since Jamie Sale and David Pelletier in 2001.