Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava (GEO) lead in the Pairs Short Program at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Kaunas (LTU) © ISU
ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champions Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava (GEO) stormed to the lead as the ISU European Figure Skating Championships opened in Kaunas (LTU) Wednesday with the Pairs Short Program. A total of 167 Skaters/Couples representing 32 ISU Members have been entered for this 116th edition of the European Championships. Lithuania is hosting an ISU Figure Skating Championship for the first time.
Metelkina/Berulava (GEO) lead Pairs Short Program
ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champions Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava of Georgia made an impact on the senior scene and took the lead in the Pairs Short Program ahead of top favorites and ISU Grand Prix Final Champions Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nikita Volodin of Germany. Italy’s Lucrezia Beccari/Matteo Guarise are currently ranked third.
Metelkina/Berulava entered the major stage with a bang, putting out a perfect performance.
Skating to the upbeat song “Summertime”, the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champions nailed a triple twist, side by side triple Salchow, throw triple Lutz and picked up a level four for the twist, the lift, the spin and the death spiral. The Georgian team set a personal best of 71.30 points.
Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava (GEO) lead in the Pairs Short Program © ISU
“It was our best performance of the season. Everything was up to the maximum today, just maybe the last part of the step sequence could have been a bit cleaner.
“However, I am a bit disappointed about the score, I had hoped for a little more. But it is still our first competition (at this level) and we’ll continue to work,” Berulava said.
“I felt calm, it didn’t feel different from other competitions. We got lots of support, it was nice. Maybe it’s because we’ve done quite a few events already,” Metelkina said.
“A huge thank you to our choreographer Sergei Plishkin, who picked our music for the short and free program. I had my doubts at first, maybe because I don’t listen to this kind of music, but I relied on the taste of Sergei and Luka also liked them and the programs turned out really great and memorable.”
Hase/Volodin‘s lyrical program to “Stay” by Rihanna featured a triple twist, triple Salchow, throw triple loop as well as a level four lift. The step sequence and the death spiral were rated a level three. The ISU Grand Prix Final Champions earned 69.63 points.
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin (GER) in the Pairs Short Program at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Kaunas (LTU) © ISU
“I was very nervous today and I didn’t know what would come out of it,” Hase admitted. “I had a strange feeling all day, therefore I was happy that I was able to pull myself together like that.
“We lost a few levels, therefore we got only 69 points. It happens, we can’t change it and there is another day tomorrow and we’ll attack.”
“We worked hard for 10 days to prepare for this event,” Volodin commented. “I don’t feel pressure. We tried to do our job. I made a little error on the Salchow, because the landing was not good. I saved it, but nevertheless we lost a few points. We lost something here and there, in the footwork too. We’ll look at it and put emphasis on what the judges noted.”
Beccari/Guarise turned in a strong performance to “Run” by Ludovico Einaudi, landing a triple twist, side by side triple toe and throw triple loop to score a personal best of 67.05 points.
Lucrezia Beccari and Matteo Guarise (ITA) in the Pairs Short Program at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Kaunas (LTU) © ISU
“It will be a tight competition, it is very strong. We skated strong, we skated powerful. I’m happy, she’s happy and we will keep going in the free skate,” Guarise said.
“We lost points because of the levels. For example the death spiral level 2. We could do 70 today, but that’s OK. Next time.”
ISU Grand Prix Finalists Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN) are not far behind in fourth place at 65.29 points. ISU European silver medalists Rebecca Ghilardi/Filippo Ambrosini (ITA) came fifth on 64.87 points followed by ISU European bronze medallists Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel (GER) on 62.52 points.
2023 ISU European Champions Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii (ITA) finished seventh after two errors on the throw loop and triple Salchow (61.52 points).
For full results please see here.
Schedule of the event
The schedule of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships is as follows:
Wednesday, January 10: Pairs & Men’s Short Programs
Thursday, January 11: Women’s Short Program, Pairs Free Skating
Friday, January 12: Rhythm Dance & Men’s Free Skating
Saturday, January 13: Women’s Free Skating & Free Dance
Sunday, January 14: Exhibition Gala
For full entries and results, please see the ISU event page and the official website. Follow the discussion on social media using #EuroFigure and #FigureSkating.
Where to watch the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2024:
The ISU European Figure Skating Championships will be live streamed on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. Geo-restrictions will apply in markets where TV rights are in place. You will find the full list in the Where to Watch news here.
Subscribe to the Skating ISU YouTube Channel to receive alerts when the live streams start and when new videos are posted.
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