The European Championship is close to the denouement, very soon the winner and prize-winners in men’s single skating will be known. In the meantime, the best dance duets of Europe took to the ice of the sports complex “Tondibara” with rhythm dance. And according to the results of the first day, two pairs from Russia became the best of them, the third Russian duet closed the top 8. MK-Sport summed up the results of rhythm dance at the European Championship.
From the Russian team continue to wait for the maximum number of medals at the European Championships in figure skating. The day before, in sports pairs, the Russians occupied the entire podium, we expect something similar from men – their arbitrary numbers will sound today, January 14th. Three medals were also expected from the dancers, where gold and silver are already 100% in our pocket, but the third duet from Russia refused to fight for the medals itself.
Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin made their debut at the European Championship as silver medalists of the Russian Championship. For yesterday’s juniors, the start in Tallinn can be considered the first big test in the international arena – before that there was a performance at the Grand Prix stage, but not as successful as at the tournament in St. Petersburg in mid-December.
After Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov withdrew from the national championship due to injury, and Tiffany Zagorsky and Jonathan Gureyrounable to return to their former shape after illness, the daughter of Eteri Tutberidze and the son of actor Boris Smolkin suddenly became the number two couple in the country. They are seriously considered as participants in the team tournament of the 2022 Olympics, but so far Diana and Gleb cannot cope with their status as vice-champions of Russia.
According to the results of the rhythm dance, Davis and Smolkin took eighth place – ahead of them are duets from Lithuania, Spain, Great Britain and Italy. And it turned out that for the coaching staff of Diana and Gleb, the fight for European medals is not the most important thing. Much more important, “show yourself.”
“I think the guys performed well for their debut at the European Championship. It seems to me that the ratings correspond to the rental. Diana and Gleb skated well, but understand that we did not have and do not have plans or tasks to fight for medals here. Now our task is to show ourselves. To tell the whole world that we are and we can fight. So that they remember us and pay attention to us , ”said figure skaters coach Igor Shpilband .
Davis and Smolkin scored 73.32 for the rhythm dance, ten points short of third place by Italy’s Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri. For dancing on ice, an irrevocable advantage.
The Italians are dangerously close to the duet of Alexander Stepanova / Ivan Bukin – the gap between the Russians is only 1.44 points. The champions of Russia, perhaps, this season are more stable than the rest of the skaters, but from time to time they are ranked lower than their compatriots Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov.
Someone considers this unfair, but Stepanova and Bukin continue to fight for recognition from the judges. In Tallinn, Alexandra and Ivan updated their personal rhythm dance record – 86.45 points. True, at this European Championship it is in the order of things.
“Today we are skating on this ice for the first time, before that we always got the training arena. The quality of the ice is just fine, it rolled well, the atmosphere is very warm in the stands, the arena is cozy. Health does not bother at all, we have been training in full for a long time, we are working with new forces, ” Stepanova, quoted by Sports.ru, summed up her speech.
Sinitsina and Katsalapov became the winners of the rhythm dance. A month ago, it was alarming for the skaters – the couple withdrew from the free program of the Russian Championship due to a partner’s back injury. They say that they did it for the sake of the European Championship, which, by the way, for the sake of their own safety, the main competitors of the Russians Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Sizeron from France did not go.
Sinitsina and Katsalapov were also advised to stay at home and heal their injuries until the 2022 Olympics, but Victoria and Nikita came to confirm the status of current European champions, and so far they are doing an excellent job. And they don’t want to be asked questions about their backs.
“Feelings are really good, the mood is great, we are very pleased with our performance today. We will tune in, relax and rejoice too much. Tomorrow is still a whole day and a whole free program , ”said Sinitsina.
“How’s your back? Great, I hope
Dancers will present random numbers tomorrow, January 15th.
European Figure Skating Championship
Tallinn (Estonia)
Ice dancing, rhythm dance
1. Victoria Sinitsina – Nikita Katsalapov (Russia) – 87.89
2. Alexandra Stepanova – Ivan Bukin (Russia) – 86.45
3. Charlene Gignar – Marco Fabry (Italy) – 83.35
4. 27. Lila Fir – Lewis Gibson (Great Britain) – 79.97
5. Olivia Smart – Adria Diaz (Spain) – 77.99
6. Sarah Hurtado – Kirill Khalyavin (Spain) – 75.83
7. Allison Reed – Saulius Ambrulevichius (Lithuania) – 74.45
8. Diana Davis – Gleb Smolkin (Russia) – 73.32
9. Natalia Kalishek – Maxim Spodyrev (Poland) – 70.47
10. Evgenia Lopareva – Geoffre Brissot (France) – 70.22
11. Natalie Tashlerova – Philip Tashler (Czech Republic) – 69.72
12. Alexandra Nazarova – Maxim Nikitin (Ukraine) – 68.51
13. Katarina Müller – Tim Dick (Germany) – 67.46
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