Kwan wins qualifying group

 MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Michelle Kwan is back to her winning ways.
 The Olympic silver medalist showed flashes of her near-perfect performance at the U.S. championships today, winning her qualifying group at the World Figure Skating Championships. Irina Slutskaya and Yelena Sokolova, both of Russia, finished second and third, respectively.
 Tonia Kwiatkowski, chosen to the U.S. world team after Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski withdrew, was fourth. The second qualifying group went later, with the top 15 from each advancing to Friday's short program.
 "It's absolutely wonderful to compete in front of the home crowd," Kwan said. "I'm ready to go."
 After her flawless free skate in January at the national championships, which earned her eight perfect 6.0s, Kwan was a little lackluster at Nagano. Though she didn't make any mistakes, she skated tentatively and didn't have the same energy as Lipinski. It cost her the gold medal.
 Kwan looked more relaxed from the minute she took the ice today, grinning as the crowd roared when her name was announced. She was so smooth and fast she looked as if she was dancing across the ice, and she hit seven triple jumps.
 After landing her triple loop, her last jump, a wide grin crossed her face. She got a standing ovation as she finished, and coach Frank Carroll hugged her as she came off the ice.
 When she saw her marks, 5.7s and 5.8s for technical presentation and all 5.9s for artistry, Kwan smiled and clapped.
 "I'm just having a lot of fun and taking it easy," she said. "It's a long week."