Evgeni Plushenko leads at European Championships

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Russia’s Evgeni Plushenko leads following today’s singles short program at the European Figure Skating Championships in Estonia.

The defending Olympic champion earned a career-high 91.30 points in the short program, exceeding his previous best from the 2006 Winter Olympics. Plushenko, 27, continues to prove he’s one of the most talented skaters in the world even though a nagging knee injury forced him out of competition for three years.

Brian Joubert is second and French countryman Yannick Ponsero is third. Switzerland’s Stephane Lambiel, who won the silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics, is fifth.

-- Austin Knoblauch

Associated Press contributed to this report.