Kim Yu-na leads after short program By Kim Young-jin Kim Yu-na was surprised by a lower score than anticipated, but the world got the graceful performance it has come to expect from the figure skating megastar as she finished first in the short program of the world championships in Canada, Thursday. Competing in her first world championships in two years, Kim overcame a “shaky” first spin and scored 69.97 at the Budweiser Gardens in London, southwest of Toronto, beating Carolina Kostner of Italy (66.86) and Japan’s Kanako Murakami (66.64) for the top spot. The performance put the 2010 Olympic champion into position for a shot at her second world title after winning in 2009. She took a hiatus after second-place finishes in 2010 and 2011. The ladies’ free skate is slated for Sunday morning (Korean time), where Kim will go for her second world championship. Asada Mao of Japan, performs during the ladies short program at the World Figure Skating Championships in London, Ontario, Thursday. / AP-Yonhap Kim’s rival, Mao Asada of Japan, came in sixth after botching a triple loop and a making a two-footed landing on a triple axel, her trademark jump. Asada is a two-time world champion and was runner-up to Kim at the Vancouver Games in 2010.  A strong performance here at the worlds would boost her confidence ahead of the Sochi Games, less than a year away. Skating to “The Kiss of the Vampire,” Kim earned 36.79 points for her technical performance and 33.18 for artistry and choreography. She opened the program by nailing a difficult triple lutz-triple toe loop combination. But on the ensuing triple flip, she was judged to have taken off on the wrong side of her skate, a minor flaw that cost .20 points. She also lost points on a flying camel spin early on. Kim Yu-na of Korea performs during the ladies short program at the World Figure Skating Championships in London, Ontario, Thursday.    / AP-Yonhap Kim executed her final jump, a double axel, flawlessly and finished strong. Dubbed the “Figure Skating Queen,” Kim said she was happy with her performance, despite the score, which was 2.3 points lower than her season best set at the NRW Tropy in Germany. “I was a bit shaky in my first spin,” Kim admitted. “My score was lower than expected…But I think I showed everything I could and have no regrets. “I will do my best in the free skate.” Kostner, the defending champion, recovered after falling on the second jump of a triple-triple combination. Her marks for artistry and choreography topped the field at 33.85. Murakami, 18, may have had the most technically sound performance of the evening, tallying a technical element score of the day with 36.87. Kim will be in the final group of the free skate. Having drawn the final spot, she will be the last to skate and is expected to do so at 11:46 a.m. (Korean time). The top 24 skaters will move on to the free skate, and are divided into groups of six. Kim said she would try to take the moment in her stride. "I am not going to worry too much about the final result," she said. "I will try not to make mistakes and show everything I've done in practices," she said. yjk@koreatimes.co.kr,