Oberstdorf / Germany

 

Great Britain’s Penny Coomes/Nicholas Buckland took a confident lead in the Short Dance as the Nebelhorn Trophy opened Thursday in Oberstdorf, Germany. Kana Muramoto/Chris Reed of Japan are currently ranked second, followed by Germany’s Kavita Lorenz/Joti Polizoakis.

Coomes/Buckland turned in a strong dance to ”Rhumba d’Amour” and the Samba ”Batacuda”, scoring a personal best of 71.79 points. They are now in a prime position to secure an Olympic berth for Great Britain. ”I am so thankful to be back, I worked very, very hard to be here and today made all of that hard work worth it. I really enjoyed it and I think it made me appreciate the moment more. I was out there and I just loved every second”, said Coomes, who missed the whole past season due to a severe knee injury.

Muramoto/Reed performed to the Cha Cha ”Like It Like That”, Rhumba ”Mondo Bongo” and Samba ”Batucada de Sambrasil ” and picked up a seasons best of 62.67 points.  ”We really enjoyed every moment out there. It is such a fine program and we are looking forward to skating our free dance the day after tomorrow”, Muramoto commented.

Lorenz/Polizoakis earned 61.09 points for their dance to Salsa ”Aquarile”, Rhumba ”Mil Pasos” and Samba ”Magalenha”. ”It is always a pleasure to skate at home and we can’t wait until Saturday to perform our free dance”, Lorenz told the press.

Nebelhorn Trophy is the designated Olympic Qualifying Event this season. 19 Olympic spots for Ice Dance were allocated at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2017 and six more spots are available at Nebelhorn Trophy. Originally five spots were available, but since Denmark returned their Ice Dance quota place, a sixth spot has opened up for the competitors at Nebelhorn Trophy.

For full results and schedules please see the Event page.

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