The top German duo Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin clearly missed out on the title at the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, UK, thus suffering a setback just a few weeks before the Olympic Games. After a disappointing freestyle with a fall on the Throwrittberger and a lift, the two only took second place with a total of 203.87 points.
The pair skating title was won for the first time by the Georgians Anastasia Metelkina/Luka Berulawa (215.76 points), who were just ahead of Hase/Volodin after the short program. “Everything is still open,” said Hase before the free skate. But, as in the short program, Hase/Volodin were unable to deliver a flawless performance. On the contrary: the narrow gap grew significantly in the freestyle. “We were very excited,” said Hase after the free skate.
Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko (202.56 points) from Hungary took third place. The second German duo Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel (188.27 points) landed in a good fourth place, as they did after the short program.
Among the medal contenders at the Winter Games
Even though Hase/Volodin had to settle for silver in Sheffield, they are among the medal contenders at the Olympics in Italy in a month’s time. The two 26-year-olds dream of gold at the highlight of the season.
In order to fulfill this dream, Hase/Volodin, in contrast to the European Championships, need two flawless performances in both the short program and the free skate. In addition to the Georgians Metelkina/Berulawa, the world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara from Japan and the Italians Sara Conti/Niccolò Macii are among the biggest competitors. The pair missed the European Championships due to Conti’s injury.
Gartung is trembling into the freestyle final
A few hours before the silver medal for Hase/Volodin, Genrikh Gartung qualified for the free skate on Saturday (from 2 p.m.) in the men’s competition after a tough performance in the short program.
The 18-year-old took 24th place with 64.45 points and thus the last place in the final due to a fall in the triple Axel. “It was very difficult. Axel got me out,” said Gartung. Nika Egadze from Georgia is in the lead after the short program with 91.28 points.
On Friday, the German ice dance duo Charise Matthaei/Max Liebers will also take part in the European Championships. The couple replaced Jennifer Janse van Rensburg and Benjamin Steffan, who was suffering from an infection. For the first time in more than 70 years, a German individual starter is not taking part in the European Championships.
