Olympic and world champion Russia edged Japan on Tuesday to take the lead after the synchronized swimming technical routine preliminary on the second day of the swimming World Championships.
The Russians, who earned the only perfect 10 for artistic impression -- from Canadian judge Sandra Roberts -- at Marine Messe Fukuoka, accumulated a total of 34.393 points to snatch the lead from Japan, just behind in second with 34.253.
Anastasia Davydova, one of a completely new-look Russian lineup performing the same routine that won gold at last year's Sydney Olympics, said she was delighted that the routine had been performed without any glitches.
"We are all so happy because we didn't make any mistakes. But we never expected to get a perfect 10. None of us could believe it," said Davydova, who along with partner Anastassia Ermakova share the duet lead with Japan's Miho Takeda and Miya Tachibana.