China's beaten Pang and Tong

Chinese veterans Pang Qing and Tong Jian have vowed to continue competing despite losing their pairs title at the world figure skating championships. The pair from Harbin have been competing together for the past 18 years. And despite the pressure of top level international competition Tong said they still had the desire to keep performing. "For some reason we keep on skating," said Tong, after losing their world title to Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany on Thursday night. Over the past two decades Pang and Tong, both 31, have medalled five times at worlds including their bronze here. They stood on the top of the podium in 2006 and 2010 and took silver at last year's Winter Olympics behind compatriots Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo. Tong admitted they had considered taking a break after the Olympics but stayed on for the Chinese team after the retirement of Shen and Zhao. "After the Olympic Games we thought we'd take a break," said Tong. "It was a hard year and we had won our second world title, but then we thought that we want to collect some points for the Chinese team and to keep Chinese skating at a high level. "We committed to the whole season and we think it was a good experience for us. We didn't expect that the schedule would be so tight, though," said Tong of the season which was extended for a month because of the earthquake in Japan. "It's been a long and difficult season beyond imagination. "This competition was very hard to prepare (because of the tragedy in Japan). "The world championships were at a very high level and I think next season the level will be equally high." Asked if they would continue on to the 2014 Sochi Olympics, he added: "If possible, we would like to compete in what would be our fourth Olympic Games." The fatigue of the long season took its toll as Tong struggled with his jumps during their emotional performance to "Liebestraum". The defending champions scored 130.12 points, which was a season's best, but slipped to third with 204.12 points overall after leading the short programme. Tong said: "Today it would have been a good opportunity for us, but we missed it. It is our coach's birthday and we have been skating together for 18 years. "I wanted to say something to him after the performance. Maybe I thought too much and grew too nervous, maybe that's why it was hard." Pang added: "We were a little nervous today and it is a pity we didn't skate as well as we could have, but we will try harder next time." Savchenko and Szolkowy took their third world pairs title earning world record points for their "Pink Panther" routine. The Olympic bronze medallists posted a new record of 144.87 points in the free skate to overtake Pang and Tong's previous record of 141.81 from the 2010 Olympics. The Germans achieved a total 217.85, also a new record, beating the previous mark of 216.57 achieved by Shen and Zhao at the Vancouver Games. Russian newcomers Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov took silver in their first international competition as their "Romeo and Juliet" programme earned them 140.38 points to move up from third with 210.73 points.