ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2008 Day One
The 2008 European Figure Skating Championships opened Tuesday
in Zagreb, Croatia, with the Compulsory Dance and the Pairs
Short Program. The European Figure Skating Championships are
held in Zagreb for the third time in history. Zagreb hosted
the event in 1974 and in 1979.
Ice Dancing, Compulsory Dance
The Championships started with the Compulsory Dance. The Compulsory
Dance drawn for the 2008 European Championships was the Yankee
Polka.
Defending European Champions Isabelle Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder
of France took the lead ahead of Russia’s Oksana Domnina/Maxim
Shabalin and Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski.
Delobel/Schoenfelder chose to present the Yankee Polka in
an unusual way with her dressed up as a bar dancer wearing
a corsage and him playing the role of a sheriff. The French
showed a very solid dance and earned a season best score of
41.15 points (21.01 element score/20.24 program component
score), edging out eeigning European silver medallists Domnina/Shabalin
by exactly one point. “We wanted to create a saloon
atmosphere, and the French audience (here in Zagreb) has reacted
well to that, which was great for us. The ice was also better
than the other days. We know very well that the competition
isn’t over yet, but it was a very good start for us
today”, Delobel commented. “As this was the Yankee
Polka, we wanted to catch this spirit, the atmosphere of a
saloon with her as a bar dancer and me as the sheriff. This
made it easier for us to work on this dance as it’s
not so much fun to do for us otherwise”, Schoenfelder
explained.
Domnina/Shabalin put out a very crisp performance of the Polka
to score 40.25 (20.19/20.06), which was also a seasons best.
The Grand Prix Champions had drawn to skate fourth out of
the 26 couples but didn’t feel affected by it. “It
doesn’t really have a lot of a meaning. There was a
draw and that is unpredictable. But now we are done and can
now sit down calmy and watch the others”, Domnina said.
“I think it was good, but not the best we can do. It
makes us happy to get a seasonal best for it”, she added.
Shabalin said that he is recovering well from the meniscus
surgery he underwent on December 24. “Everything is
fine. It never hurt, it’s not hurting and it won’t
hurt. I went back on to the ice ten days after the operation”,
he said.
Khokhlova/Novitski came in third with a dynamic Yankee Polka,
scoring a season best of 37.37 points (18.76/18.61). “We
dedicated a lot of time to the Polka. We basically skated
it in each morning practice for two hours. We put a lot effort
into it and it seems like something came out and we didn’t
work in vain. Many feel this dance suits us well as it’s
fast and happy, but we just didn’t have time to prepare
it during the Grand Prix”, Novitski commented.
Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali (ITA) are less than one point
behind at 36.87 in fourth place. Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian
Bourzat of France came in fifth with 34.58 points and Sinead
Kerr/John Kerr (GBR) are ranked sixth (33.55 points).
Pairs, Short Program
The competition went on with the Pairs Short Program. Aliona
Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy of Germany skated to the lead ahead
of Russia’s Maria Mukhortova/Maxim Trankov and Tatiana
Voloszhar/Stanislav Morozov (UKR).
Performing to the Bollywood soundtrack “Asoka”,
Savchenko/Szolkowy started off strongly with a high throw
triple flip followed by a triple twist. However, Savchenko
then stumbled out of the triple toeloop. The couple recovered
to produce a difficult lift, a death spiral and two spins
that were all graded a level four. Only the step sequence
was a level one. The defending European Champions earned 70.36
points (39.19 element score/31.17 program component score).
“It was fun to skate, but it didn't go as we had expected.
There were quite many wobbles and errors. We would have wanted
to be on first place with a good skate”, Szolkowy told
the press. “The beginning (of the program) felt good.
I was simply too slow going into the jump”, Savchenko
said, referring to her mistake.
Mukhortova/Trankov, who had drawn to skate first out of the
15 couples, delivered an elegant performance to “Otonal”
that featured a triple twist, a solid side by side triple
toeloop, an Axel Lasso lift that was graded a level four and
a throw triple Salchow as their very last element. But Trankov
struggled with the side by side spin and it was out of unison.
The 2005 World Junior Champions picked up 62.73 points (36.21/26.52),
which was just short of their previous personal best of 63.10
points. “This is our first time at the European Championships.
We had to skate first, that was a minus for us. I made a big
mistake in the side by side spin as everybody saw. We want
to skate well tomorrow and I want to do a better spin”,
Trankov promised.
Volosozhar/Morozov completed a big triple twist, a triple
toeloop (he was shaky on the landing) and a one-armed Axel
Lasso lift in their routine to “The Feeling Begins”
by Peter Gabriel. The got a level three for their side by
side combination spin, but the pair spin was only a level
one. Volosozhar touched down with her hand on the throw triple
Salchow. The Ukrainians scored 61.29 points (35.50/25.79),
setting a new personal best for themselves. “We got
a new season best score, but actually we performed much better
at the NHK Trophy in Japan (in December). We had some errors.
He was shaky on the toeloop, I put down my hand on the throw
loop and I left out a choctaw in the step sequence. I was
nervous in the warm up, my legs were shaking, and I don’t
even know why”, Volosozhar explained.
Yuko Kawaguchi/Alexander Smirnov (RUS) came in fourth at
61.25 points and are only 0.04 points away from the podium.
They produced a throw triple loop and a difficult lift, but
he wobbled on the triple toeloop, and the triple twist was
messy. Arina Ushakova/Sergei Karev (RUS) are sitting in fifth
with 49.43 points. She missed the side by side triple toeloop
and it was downgraded. Mari Vartmann/Florian Just (GER) are
in 6th (47.23 points).
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