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Lambiel slips back

Lambiel encountered some difficulties in his short programme Keystone

Swiss figure skater Stéphane Lambiel has slipped down to 17th place ahead of the men's free skate at the world championships in Nagano.

After coming through Monday’s qualifying section in 11th place overall, the 16-year-old skater dropped down the rankings after a disappointing performance in his short programme.

A couple of shaky landings were particularly damaging for Lambiel, who will now have to work hard in the free skate if he is to match his creditable 15th place finish at last month’s Winter Olympics.

Russia’s Alexei Yagudin, who won the men’s gold in Salt Lake City, continued to impress in Japan on Tuesday.

The Olympic champion earned a total of six 6.0 scores – the highest ever by an individual at a world championship short programme – to put himself in a commanding position going into Thursday’s decisive stage.

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