Canadians Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison won the silver medal in the pairs competition at the world junior figure skating championship in Kitchener, Ontario.

Russia's Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov of Russia, last year's bronze medallists, captured gold in a competition that went down to the final skate Wednesday night.

Dube, 17, of Drummondville, Que., and Davison, 19, of Cambridge, Ont., settled for silver for the second straight year, while Tatiana Kokoreva and Egor Golovkin of Russia took the bronze.

Junior pairs skaters Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison, seen in this file photo, impressed a hometown crowd with their silver-medal performance Wednesday at the world junior figure skating championships in Kitchener, Ont. (CP Photo)

Kokoreva and Golovkin were in first place going into the free skate, and they were third-last to skate. The pair appeared in control until both skaters fell to the ice at the end of a lift, leaving the door open for others to overtake them. Kokoreva and Golovkin scored 144.12.

Dube and Davison were next up. Dube fell on a throw triple loop landing, but the Canadian couple still managed a personal-best score of 146.56 to take the lead.

The final skaters of the night, Mukhortova, 19, and Trankov, 21, made no glaring errors (except for a slight footwork flub by Trankov) and posted a total of 150.91 for the victory.

Canada hasn't won world junior gold since 1978 when Paul Martini and partner Barb Underhill stood atop the podium.

Despite being so close to gold, Dube and Davison weren't disappointed with their result, especially after all they have overcome in the past few months.

Dube had knee surgery at the end of November and the pair was forced to withdraw from the Canadian championships six weeks later in London when they realized she was not ready for competition.

"There were a few mistakes – one or two too many – but that's okay," said Davison. "We're happy with the way we skated.

"It was a good learning experience, this season, for us, battling back from the surgery and learning how to do things that aren't in a perfect situation."

Canadian junior champions Michelle Cronin, 17, of Toronto and Brian Shales, 19, of Mississauga, Ont., finished seventh overall with a personal-best 130.35.

Meagan Duhamel, 19, of Walden, Ont., and Ryan Arnold, 20, of Huntsville, Ont., placed eighth out of 14 pairs with a personal-best 129.95.

In other competition Wednesday, 14-year-old Patrick Chan of Ottawa placed second in his men's singles qualifying group.

Chan trailed only Japanese junior champion Nobunari Oda, 17. Oda got 121.30 points and Chan got 110.22.

Chan, the reigning Canadian junior champion, was competing in his first major international competition, but didn't appear fazed.

"I tried to stay focused, to skate my best, and not think about trying to come first," he said. "This is an experience I'll never forget."

Canada's other entrant, Christopher Mabee, who placed fifth overall at the 2004 world junior event, also advanced to the next round – barely. Mabee, a 19-year-old native of Tillsonburg, Ont., finished 14th in his qualifying group with 72.12.

Alexander Uspenski, 17, of Russia was first in Mabee's group with 113.30 points, while Jordan Brauninger, 18, of the United States was second with 110.58.

Mabee will get a fresh slate when the men's short program begins on Friday. The qualifying session is used to select the top 15 skaters in each group of 20 and has zero value in the overall outcome at the meet.

The ice dance original dance and women's short program are scheduled for Thursday.

In the ice dance, Tessa Virtue of London, Ont., and Scott Moir of Ilderton, Ont., are second to leaders Morgan Matthews and Maxim Zavozin of the United States.

Mao Asada of Japan holds the lead in the women's event. Amanda Billings of Calgary is ninth and Mira Leung of Vancouver is 12th among 30 skaters.

with files from Canadian Press