Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy won the gold medal in the pairs competition. Associated Press Photo.

GOTEBORG, Sweden — Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany won the pairs title at the World Figure Skating Championships, completing a sweep of all the year’s major titles.

Savchenko and Szolkowy, also the Grand Prix and European champions, took advantage of their hugely difficult routine to win the title, beating China’s Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao by more than five points. Canada’s Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison won the bronze.

Earlier Wednesday, two-time European champion Carolina Kostner edged reigning world silver medalist Mao Asada by the slightest of margins, a mere 0.18 points, to win the short program. Former world champion Kimmie Meissner, who is hoping a coaching switch can reverse a dismal season, was in ninth place. But Meissner was more than satisfied with the performance, punching the air when she finished.

“Yeah, pretty happy,” she said when she came off the ice, with a broad smile that belied her understatement.

The women’s free skate is today.

Savchenko and Szolkowy weren’t perfect. They botched their side-by-side triple salchows when he fell and she touched down, a mandatory one-point deduction. But they received seven level four marks for their elements, including a gorgeous lift where Savchenko was held aloft as if diving toward the ice.

“I was about 30 percent surprised that I was lying on the ice, because the jump felt good in the air” Szolkowy said. “I thought, damn, that was our medal chance. Then I remembered what we learned in training, that we need to focus on each element and even if you miss a small element — well, this was a big one — you can make it up on other elements.”

The Germans finished with a total score of 202.86, while Zhang and Zhang scored 197.82. Savchenko and Szolkowy are the first Germans to win the pairs title since their coach, Ingo Steuer, won with partner Mandy Woetzel in 1997.

The women’s competition was expected to be a showdown between Asada of Japan and South Korea’s Kim Yu-na, winner of the Grand Prix final. But Kostner had a different idea.

The Italian has departed from her classical comfort zone with this year’s short program, packing elongated spirals, tight spins with ever-changing arm positions and big jumps between the opening shrieks and closing groans of The Doors classic, “Riders on the Storm.”

She matched Asada’s jumping ability with a huge triple-triple combination. Her only error was a step out on the landing of her triple lutz, but it had little bearing. Her score of 64.28 included the best technical mark of the night.

“The short program should be modern, fresh and young. The long program should be more classical. I won’t say grown up, because I am not a grown-up. I’m still searching for the perfect way of skating,” said the 21-year-old Kostner, who is competing in her sixth worlds.

Asada hit all of her jumps easily, seeming to hover momentarily above the ice before making her rotations. Her triple flip-triple loop combination, triple lutz and double axel were all gorgeous.

But none of her elements received the highest difficulty levels — something she said she’d have to study before the final long program.

“The difference between first and second is not so much, so I will do my best in the long,” said Asada, who finished with 64.10 points. “I was satisfied with my jumps, but not with the levels on the spirals and spins.”

Asada’s Japanese teammate, Yukari Nakano, was third with 61.10 points. Kim, who had to skip last month’s Four Continents championship in her native South Korea because of a hip injury, is in fifth place, a little more than four points behind the leaders.

Meissner hasn’t been the same skater since she won the 2006 world title, and her devastating seventh-place finish at the U.S. championships in January prompted some big changes. She left longtime coach Pam Gregory and now trains in Florida with Richard Callaghan, who coached Tara Lipinski to the gold medal at the Nagano Olympics.

Though Meissner may be down in the standings, she said she isn’t bothered by being seven points out of the lead.

“I don’t care at all,” said Meissner, who scored 57.25 points. “I am just so happy. ... This is something I can be proud of.”

Meissner said she purposely downgraded her triple-triple combination to a triple-double to ensure a clean program. But she intends to do the triple flip-triple toe loop combination in the free skate.

Still, the Americans will have to fare better in the free skate if they are to keep three spots at next year’s world championships. The top two skaters must finish with a combined placement of 13 — say, fifth and eighth — to earn three spots at the 2009 worlds, where results will determine how many entries each country has at the Vancouver Olympics.

Bebe Liang and Ashley Wagner were 10th and 11th, respectively, in the short program.

“I’m ecstatic to be here in the first place. I am 16 years old,” said Wagner, who was the bronze medalist at the junior world championships last year.

Asked if she was nervous, Wagner said, “Insanely nervous. I am not going to try to dull it down.”

Liang, who turns 20 later this month, had fun with her short program to “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” combining her whimsical portrayal of the role made famous by Mickey Mouse with cleanly executed elements.

“I was very relaxed,” said Liang, who finished fifth at the U.S. championships but is at worlds because three of the top four were too young to qualify. “It may sound strange, it’s the biggest competition ever for me, and I’m the most relaxed.”