Plushenko on form

Skating to a medley of tango and flamenco, the elegant Russian produced a near-perfect display to earn marks ranging from 5.7 and 5.9 for required elements and 5.8 and 5.9 for presentation.

Joubert, whose dazzling step sequences to Pink Floyd's Time were met by roars of appreciation from the Dortmund crowd, skated after Plushenko and looked delighted with his performance, but the judges ranked it only second best.

The 19-year-old Joubert, however, who collected marks from 5.6 to 5.8 for required elements and 5.7 to 5.9 for presentation, remained in contention for gold in what promises to be a thrilling finale.

Local hope Stefan Lindemann was a surprise third while grand prix winner Emanuel Sandhu of Canada ruined his chances with a wobbly performance that left him out of the top 10.

European champions Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov showed they will be strong contenders for world gold in Dortmund comfortably winning their compulsory ice dance group on Wednesday.

But Euro silver medallists Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski of Bulgaria gave warning of their potential by taking the other group.

With a fluent compulsory dance to a jazz theme called 'Midnight Blues', the Russian pair picked up marks ranging from 5.4 to 5.8 for technique and 5.5 to 5.9 for timing and expression to head their section.

But Denkova and Staviski matched their performance with European bronze medallists Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov of Ukraine close behind in the second group.

Navka accidentally hit her partner on the nose in the final pose but he kept smiling. "Luckily my nose didn't start to bleed," he said.

European silver medallists Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviyski of Bulgaria also mastered a new dance never skated before in a major competition, collecting similar marks to lead the second group.

"The judges and coaches don't know all the technical aspects of this dance very well yet," said Staviyski. "We tried to focus on the choreography. We learned the steps and did them well."

Home favourites Kati Winkler and Rene Lohse, who feared they would miss the Dortmund championships after Lohse damaged right knee ligaments in January, delighted the home fans by taking second place in the first group ahead of Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France.

The German pair, who missed last month's European championships because of Lohse's injury, remained in contention for a medal after Thursday's original dance.

"It was really tough after the injury and we had to fight to come here," Lohse said. "The audience was just great. I felt like crying."