ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2008
Day Two
The 2008 European Figure Skating Championships continued
Wednesday in Zagreb, Croatia, with the Men’s Short Program
and the Pairs Free Skating.
Men, Short Program
The Men opened today’s competition with the Short Program.
Verner of the Czech Republic took the lead over France’s
Brian Joubert. Stéphane Lambiel of Switzerland came
in third.
Verner, who skated last like he had exactly one year ago
in this event, put out a strong performance to “Gypsy
Swing”, hitting a triple flip-triple toe, a triple Axel
and a triple Lutz. The reigning European silver medalist also
was awarded a level four for his change foot sit spin and
his straight line footwork. The Czech scored 79.03 points
(41.46 element score/37.37 program component score). “The
situation felt even worse than last year. It was wobbly. The
ice is very hard, and I was the last to skate. We need to
skate clean edges and if you do it fast there is a chance
of 90 percent that we slip. These are costly mistakes. I knew
that Brian (Joubert) didn’t have such a high score.
And also Stéphane (Lambiel) didn’t have such
a high score. I didn’t see it, but I saw his face and
I knew that he wasn’t perfect. Then you know there is
a chance, but as soon as you think about it, everything is
over. You have to stay focused and that’s what I’m
going to do now”, Verner announced.
Joubert opened his program to “All for you” by
Sebastien Damiani with a quad-triple toeloop combination,
but he did a three turn out of the quad. He nailed a triple
Lutz, but then fell on his triple Axel. The Frenchman recovered
to complete strong spins and footwork, earning a level four
for the combination spin and a level three for the other two
spins as well as for the circular steps. The 21-year-old collected
75.25 points (39.43/36.82).
Performing to the Tango “Carne Cruda”, Lambiel
went down on the triple Axel as well and then downgraded his
planned quad-triple toe combination to a triple-double. He
produced a triple Lutz and was awarded a level four for all
his three spins and a level three for both step sequences.
The two-time World Champion scored 71.78 points (35.79/36.99).
Pairs, Free Skating
The Pairs event concluded with the Free Skating. Aliona Savchenko/Robin
Szolkowy of Germany claimed their second consecutive European
title. Russia’s Maria Mukhortova/Maxim Trankov skated
to the silver and Yuko Kawaguchi/Alexander Smirnov captured
the bronze.
Savchenko/Szolkowy had drawn to skate last out of the 15
couples and gave a strong performance to “L’Oiseau”
from Cirque du Soleil that featured a high throw triple flip,
a triple twist, difficult lifts and spins as well as a throw
triple Salchow in the last second of the program. They also
landed a side by side triple toe-triple toe sequence, but
Szolkowy had to save the second jump and then he popped the
planned side by side triple Salchow into a single while she
did a beautiful triple. The current World bronze medalists
also picked up points for their spins, spirals and footwork.
Both spins and the spiral sequence were graded a level four,
the footwork and the death spiral were a level three.
Savchenko/Szolkowy received a new seasons best of 132.03
points and accumulated a total of 202.39 points, surpassing
their previous personal best of 199.39 points that they had
established one year ago at the European Championships. “It
wasn't perfect but we have something to work on, but right
now we want to enjoy the medals”, Savchenko told the
press. “(Winning) the first time was surprising and
it was nicer, to be honest. This is also great but different.
“At Worlds in Sweden, it's my last chance to show you
my triple Salchow and I will show it”, Szolkowy added.
“It was the second time we scored over 200 points. The
first time was at German Nationals but Nationals have their
own laws. This time it counts. Points are not the most important
for us, more important is that we skate well, to have the
feeling that we skated well. Points don't count for us”,
explained.
Mukhortova/Trankov opened their routine set to a Prelude
by Sergei Rachmaninov with an excellent side by side triple
toe-double toeloop combination followed by a triple twist
and a side by side triple Salchow and an Axel Lasso lift,
but then their throw loop didn’t take off and was a
single. Mukhortova fell on the throw triple Salchow as well,
but the 2005 World Junior Champions fought back to produce
a level-four pair combination spin and two good lifts. The
Russians picked up 106.68 points (53.32/54.36) and racked
up a total of 169.41 points to win the silver medal in what
was their debut at the European Championships.
Skating to the “Love Story” soundtrack, Kawaguchi/Smirnov
hit a throw quadruple Salchow, but it was a bit shaky on the
landing. The Russian Champions also completed strong lifts
that were all graded a level four and a level-four side by
side spin. However, Smirnov struggled with the triple toeloop-triple
toeloop sequence, stepping out of the first one and falling
on the second. The sequence wasn’t recognized as such
anymore and the second triple toe didn’t count. He also
singled the side by side double Axel. The couple was awarded
106.00 points (53.64/53.36) and moved up one spot to take
the bronze at 167.25 points overall.
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