FIGURE SKATING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS : CIS Couples Put Medals on Ice Early

There were no surprises in the compulsory phase of the ice dance competition Wednesday during the World Figure Skating Championships, which was no surprise.

The most predictable of the sport’s divisions, ice dancing seldom results in an upset. There is even less chance of one this year because of the withdrawal of the defending champions and silver medalists at last month’s Winter Olympics, France’s brother-sister team of Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay.

As anticipated, the teams from the Commonweath of Independent States were 1-2-3 after the two compulsory dances--the Viennese Waltz and the Tango Romantica--at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

Although there are two phases of the competition remaining, Olympic gold medalists Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko, bronze medalists Maia Usova and Alexander Zhulin, and fourth-place finishers Oksana Gritschuk and Evgeni Platov are expected to finish where they were Wednesday, in the first three places.

Entering Friday night’s original dance, U.S. champions April Sargent-Thomas and Russ Witherby are in eighth place. The other U.S. team, Rachel Mayer and Peter Breen, are 15th.

Pairs competition began Wednesday night. Skaters from the CIS, including gold medalists Natalia Mishkutionok and Artur Dmitriev, were favored to win at least two of the three medals after tonight’s freestyle programs.

Competing for the United States are two pairs from Southern California--Natasha Kuchiki and Todd Sand, and Jenni Meno and Scott Wendland--plus national champions Calla Urbanski and Rocky Marval.

On the eve of today’s start to the men’s competition, two-time U.S. champion Christopher Bowman of Van Nuys denied reports that he has decided to retire after this week’s championships to pursue a professional career, even though he inspired them by telling reporters after his fourth-place finish in the Olympics that it was time for him to move on.

“These (reports) are really fallacies,” he said during a Wednesday news conference. “They’re really unfair to me because I feel they close a lot of doors for me. I want to keep options open for myself.”

As surprised as anyone to hear that the controversial Bowman, 24, might remain in the sport through the 1994 Winter Games at Lillehammer, Norway, was his coach, John Nicks of Costa Mesa, who said: “Are you telling me we’re going to have more time together?”

Bowman smiled sheepishly. “Sorry,” he said.