Minsk, Belarus

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Mikhail Kolyada of Russia took the lead in the Men’s Short Program as the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2019 continued in Minsk (BLR) on Thursday with the Men’s Short Program. Alexander Samarin, also from Russia, edged out Spain’s six-time and reigning European Champion Javier Fernandez to come second.

Mikhail Kolyada (RUS) EFSC 2019(c)International Skating Union (ISU) 1087917672

Mikhail Kolyada (RUS) at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

Kolyada opened his performance to “I Belong to You” by Muse with a quad toe-triple toe combination and followed up with a triple Lutz and triple Axel. The 2018 World bronze medalist picked up a level four for his exquisite spins and footwork to post a season’s best of 100.49 points. “It is important now not to let out the emotions, I need to keep them for the free. It was a good performance, not without small mistakes, though,” the two-time European bronze medalist said. “It is definitely easier to skate when you’re healthy. At this point, I am pleased with what I’ve done today,” he added.

Alexander Samarin (RUS)EFSC 2019(c)International Skating Union (ISU) 1087917592

Alexander Samarin (RUS) at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

Samarin’s program to “Cold Blood” by Dave Not Dave featured a big quadruple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, a triple Axel and level-four spins. However, the National bronze medalist stepped out of a triple flip and his step sequence was graded a level two. The Muscovite picked up a season’s best score of 91.97 points. “I’m quite satisfied but I wanted to show more. It seems today is not the right day.,” the 20-year-old noted. “I was going for the quad flip, but I think I didn’t have enough experience with it in competition. It was the very first attempt.”

Javier Fernandez (ESP)EFSC 2019(c)International Skating Union (ISU) 1087910616

Javier Fernandez (ESP) at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

Fernandez hit a quad toe-double toeloop combination, triple Axel and got a level-four for his spins, but the quadruple Salchow was called underrotated. The Olympic bronze medalist scored 91.84 points. “I think the program was great. The jumps were good even though the judges didn’t think so. I trained for three weeks hard in Toronto,” the two-time World Champion commented. “I wanted to do the Europeans as my last competition.  The Europeans is more my house.  It’s time for the next step in my life.  21 years (of skating) 13 European Championships, six titles.  In the free, nine points is nothing,” he continued.

 

 

Kevin Aymoz (FRA) turned in a solid performance that featured a quad toeloop to finish fourth on 88.02 points. Maxim Kovtun (RUS) landed quad toe-triple toe, but fell on the quad Salchow. He currently ranks fifth on 87.70 points. Daniel Samohin (ISR) rounds up the top six (86.48 points).