hina's Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao won the pairs competition, following up their dominating performance in Thursday's short program by finishing first in the free skate for a combined score of 182.22 points.
Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov of Ukraine were second in the free skate to finish second overall with 175.05 points, followed by China's Pang Qing and Tong Jian on 171.86.
Zhang and Zhang impressed the judges with their lifts and spins and a forward inside death spiral.
"We are very happy to have won today, it means a lot to us," Zhang Hao said. "In 1998, we won the gold medal at the Junior Grand Prix here in this ice rink, and 10 years later we are still jumping."
Jeremy Abbott of the United States set a personal best Friday to take the lead after the men's short program at the Cup of China.
Skating to Tomaso Albinoni's "Adagio," Abbott landed a triple axel and a triple lutz-triple toe loop combination for a score of 77.05 points, improving his previous best of 74.34. Vaughn Chipeur of Canada was second with 72.70, with Stephen Carriere of the United States third with 72.00.
"I thought today was a bit of a fight. I was very excited about my result and my placement," said Abbott, who struggled with his initial triple flip. "It went well, but it was a bit of a struggle and I had to fight through some things. But I got the job done and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
The men's event concludes with the free skate on Saturday.
In ice dance, European champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia protected their lead from Thursday by finishing second in the original dance behind American pair Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto.
The Americans performed a tap dance and received high grades for a one-armed rotational lift, scoring 58.08 points to move within one point of Domnina and Shabalin in the overall standings heading into Saturday's concluding free dance.
The Russian couple lead with 95.58 points after getting 57.24 for their playful waltz.
"We skated well, with the right mood," Shabalin said. "We like the dance and the audience liked it, too."
The women's competitions also concludes Saturday. Kim Yu-na of South Korea won the women's short program on Thursday ahead of Japan's Miki Ando.
The Cup of China is the third of six events in the International Skating Union's Grand Prix series.
11/7/2008 1:48 PM BEIJING (AP)
Chinese skaters Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang perform during the free skating program competition at the ISU Grand Prix Figure Skating China Cup 2008 in Beijing , China, Friday, Nov.7, 2008. (AP Photo/ Elizabeth Dalziel)
hina's Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao won the pairs competition, following up their dominating performance in Thursday's short program by finishing first in the free skate for a combined score of 182.22 points.
