Russia’s Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitri Kozlovskii dazzled in the Pairs Short Program at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Graz on Wednesday to take a strong lead over teammates Daria Pavliuchenko/Denis Khodykin and Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov.
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Aleksandra BOIKOVA / Dmitrii KOZLOVSKII (RUS) at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2020©International Skating Union (ISU)
Boikova/Kozlovskii didn’t miss a beat in their fluid performance to “My Way”, nailing a side by side triple toeloop, triple twist, throw triple flip. The 2019 European bronze medalists collected a level four for the spin, footwork, death spiral and lift to post a personal best of 82.34 points.
“We are very excited to receive so many points, and skate clean, but I don't think we need to concentrate on the points, we need to do our job and we'll get the points,” Boikova commented. “The hardest part is still to come, the long program. But the schedule here is good. It’s nice to have a day off tomorrow to catch our breath,” Kozlovskii added.
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Daria PAVLIUCHENKO / Denis KHODYKIN (RUS) at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2020©International Skating Union (ISU)
Pavliuchenko/Khodykin’s performance to “The Storm” featured a triple twist, a set of triple toeloops and a throw triple loop. The 2018 World Junior Champions scored 74.92 points. “We are happy with the skate today, we did our job. Compared to Nationals we were much calmer here”, Khodykin noted. Indeed it was easier (to compete in our second European Championship), we knew what kind of a competition it is, what to prepare for,” he added.
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Evgenia TARASOVA / Vladimir MOROZOV (RUS) at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2020©International Skating Union (ISU)
Tarasova/Morozov started well into their “Bolero” Short Program with a triple twist, triple toes and high throw triple loop. But they struggled with the lasso lift, losing the balance and Tarasova almost well. The two-time European Champions earned 73.50 points. “It was really a shame, we skated the first part of the program so well and then there was this stupid mistake. I was not frightened - Vladimir held me tight. It’s an annoying,” Tarasova said. “My blade was caught during the second turn. This lift is all about the balance,” Morozov explained.
Nicole Della Monica/Matteo Guarise (ITA) finished fourth on 70.48 points with a solid performance, just ahead of Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nolan Seegert (GER), who also skated very well, on 70.43 points. Miriam Ziegler/Severin Kiefer (AUT) came sixth on 67.90 points with another clean performance.
Event Schedule
The schedule of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2020 is as follows:
Thursday, January 23: Rhythm Dance, Men’s Free Skating
Friday, January 24: Ladies Short Program, Pairs Free Skating
Saturday, January 25: Free Dance, Ladies Free Skating
Sunday, January 26: Exhibition Gala
Where to watch and follow the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2020?
Viewers will be able to watch either via their national broadcaster / channel and for countries where there are no broadcasters, the ISU will offer a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. You will find the full list in the Where to Watch news here.
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