Ostrava / Czech Republic

The ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2017 continued in Ostrava, Czech Republic, Thursday with the Short Dance.

Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev (RUS) dance to lead in Short Dance

Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev of Russia danced to a narrow lead in the Short Dance, edging Italy’s Anna Cappelllini/Luca Lanotte by less than a point. Defending Champions Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron of France are not far behind in third place. The result was revised, as after a review by the Referee and the Technical Panel it was confirmed that Cappellini/Lanotte had performed an additional element, a rotational lift, in the Short Dance, which results in a deduction of one point for an extra element. As a consequence, Cappellini/Lanotte’s score changed and they switched placement with Bobrova/Soloviev.

Efsc17 Bobrova Soloviev 632765072Bobrova/Soloviev delivered a strong performance to Blues “Mercy on Me” by Christina Aguilera and Swing “Sing Sing Sing” to post a new personal best with 76.18 points. The 2016 European bronze medalists earned a level four for the twizzles, the straight line lift and the Midnight Blues pattern. “It was a strong, emotional performance. The coaches said it was the best so far. But we won’t relax now”, Soloviev commented.

 

Efsc17 Cappellini Lanotte 632764878Cappellini/Lanotte’s Blues “Cry For Me” and Boogie Woogie “Choo Choo Boogie” featured level-four twizzles, a level-four Blues pattern and lift while the side by side footwork was rated a level three. The 2014 World and European Champions achieved a new personal best of 75.65 points. “We’ve been craving to give this program a good go and waited for such a performance like this all season”, Lanotte said.

 

Efsc17 Papadakis Cizeron 632763754Dancing to the Blues “Bittersweet” and the Swing “Diga Diga Doo”, Papadakis/Cizeron completed three level-four elements, but the side by side diagonal step sequence merited only a level two. The two-time and reigning European Champions picked up 75.48 points. “It was a very good skate. I am a bit frustrated though with the two mistakes that I did in the last element. It was more on details, but it made us lose a few points. We’ve improved a lot since the last competition, but there is still room to improve for the World Championships”, Papadakis noted.

 

Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri (ITA) placed fourth at 70.46 points followed by Isabella Tobias/ Ilia Tkachenko (ISR) at 69.35 points and Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin (RUS) with 68.17 points. 30 Ice Dance couples competed in the Short Dance and the top 20 advance to the Free Dance on Saturday. 

 

The ISU European Figure Skating Championships continue this evening with the Pairs Free Skating.