FIGURE SKATING : Browning Is Target in Championships

After Canadian Kurt Browning won the 1989 world figure skating championship in Paris, other competitors resigned themselves to the probability that he would be unbeatable a year later in his home country.

But, as the championships open today with the men’s compulsory figures in the last time that tedious discipline will be contested at the international level, the challengers are conceding nothing. That is not because they are skating exceptionally well.

Instead, it is because Browning, 23, has begun skating like the hockey player that his friends wanted him to become while he was growing up outside Edmonton, Alberta.

In two international competitions since the World Championships, he finished third. He defended his Canadian title last month, but most observers felt it was a gift from the judges because of his reputation.

As a result, home ice might have turned into a disadvantage for Browning as all Canada glares at him. In an interview with the Toronto Sun, seven-time Canadian champion Toller Cranston even roasted Browning for wearing sweat pants and a T-shirt in practice.

Cranston did not stop there, adding: “I was very disappointed with Browning in the Canadian championships. His performance was a disgrace. As Canadian and world champion, he had an obligation to be a role model. It was obvious that he hadn’t trained. He displayed a sloppy attitude, and he was given marks for what amounted to a junior program.”

But Browning said last week he is capable of rising to the occasion. If he has another edge, it is that last year’s runnerup, Christopher Bowman of Van Nuys, has had back problems that forced him to withdraw from last month’s U.S. championships. He arrived here last week, seven pounds lighter than he was three weeks ago and claiming he is healthy.

Both expect to be challenged by the Soviet Union’s Viktor Petrenko, the 1988 Olympic bronze medalist who was injured last year but recently won the European championship.

Competition in dance and pairs begins Tuesday. Entering the women’s singles compulsory figures Wednesday, defending champion Midori Ito of Japan will be favored despite a foot injury that might have been caused by her emphasis on triple jumps.