The New York Times-20080125-Czech Wins Title- -Brief-

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Czech Wins Title; [Brief]

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Tomas Verner, a Czech, won his first major international championship Thursday, taking the European men's title over a pair of skaters with three world titles between them. Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland, the 2005-6 world champion, and Brian Joubert of France, the current world champion, were second and third. Verner, 21, skated early in the last group and did enough to hold onto his lead after the short program. He tried a quad but put his hand down. Then he completed seven triple jumps.The ice dancers Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder, the defending champions, extended their lead earlier Thursday.