The pair won their first Russian Championship in 2008 by winning the short and long program. They won by 10.43 points over Mukhortova/Trankov in spite of a three-point deduction for stopping the program due to injury. Kavaguti fell and dislocated her shoulder after a throw quadruple Salchow. She attempted to continue the program despite the pain, however Smirnov, seeing that she had trouble raising her arm, stopped the program. After the two-minute pause permitted by the rules, the pair completed the program and won their first national title, having completed two triple toeloops, a triple twist, and a throw triple loop.