The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Beijing

Emiko Suzuki and Saho Harada finished in third place in the duet technical routine in the synchronized swimming competition at the Beijing Olympics on Monday.

Suzuki and Harada, members of the squad that won the silver medal in the team event at the Athens Games four years ago, got a total of 48.250 points, 1.084 behind Russia's defending champions Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova.

Spanish pair Andrea Fuentes and Gemma Mengual were in second place with 48.834, while Chinese twins Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen trailed Japan by 0.166 point.

"We came to this competition with resolve, so we wanted to show our liveliness," Suzuki said. "We were really concentrated while swimming today. Seeing the Japanese spectators holding the Japanese flag helped us."

Davydova and Ermakova performed flawlessly to a Russian public dance tune in the opening session, and led the duet technical routine.

The Russians recorded a score of 49.334 before a full crowd at the Water Cube.