Anna Duskova (16) and Martin Bidar (17) of the Czech Republic took gold in pair skating, the first medals awarded at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2016, in Debrecen, Hungary on Thursday.

The Czech duo, who took the lead after the short program on Wednesday with 64.71 points, maintained their lead in free skate as well, gaining 117.11 points for a total of 181.82 points.

They were followed by Anastasia Mishina (14) and Vladislav Mirzoev(19) of Russia, with Ekaterina Borisova (16) and Dmitry Sopot (17), also of Russia, finishing third. The two Russian duos got 172.60 points and 169.00 points respectively.

The Chinese duo of Gao Yumeng (14) and Li Bowen (16) finished in 13th place with 112.56 points.

The men's free skating and awards will be on Friday, and the ladies' free skating and ice dance free dance will be on Saturday.

The event ends on Sunday with a gala performance of the top placed skaters.

Under World Juniors' rules, skaters must be at least 13 years old but not yet 19 before the previous July 1, except for the men competing in pair skating and ice dancing who may compete up until age 21.

A total of 177 skaters from 44 ISU members entered for the Championships.