Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis were disappointed in the ice dance EC medal fight in Kaunas, Lithuania, when they finished sixth in the final results and failed to defend their EC bronze medal.
However, they did together with their training buddies, who finished tenth Yuka Oriharan and Juho Pirinen with Finnish figure skating history. For the first time, two Finnish ice dance couples reached the top ten in the ranking competitions.
Finnish national team coach Maurizio Margaglio more than a decade of work for Finnish ice dancing is now bearing fruit.
‘s narrators Mika Saarelainen and Sara Honkavaara named Orihara and Pirinen as the biggest achievers of the Finnish team. The Japanese-Finnish couple achieved their goal at the EC ice, i.e. placing in the top ten.
Orihara and Pirinen skated to their record score of 179.71 in Kaunas and were obviously happy to perform in the big arena. In their previous and first European Championships in 2020, the pair was 18th.
– This gave me confidence in the future. A wonderful experience for which I am truly grateful, Orihara said.
Saarelainen and Honkavaara also praised Turkkila and Versluis, although the couple had somewhat mixed feelings about both programs.
– Turkkila and Versluis skated very well, but as they themselves said, maybe not the best. There was a little nervousness there. Sixth place is a nice result, Saarelainen said.
The competition was tough. Italian couple Charlene Guignard / Marco Fabbri reached the EC gold in ice dance for the second time in a row with 214.38 points. of Great Britain Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson like last year, they won European Championship silver with a score of 210.82. Lithuania Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius grabbed their first competition medal, bronze, in front of their home crowd. They got their record score of 203.37.
The rear volt shuddered
French Adam Siao Him Fa successfully defended the men’s singles European championship. He won the EC gold with a total score of 276.17, a margin of almost 20 points.
In addition to the skillful performance, Siao Him Fan, 22, shook the Kaunas arena when he performed a forbidden element, a backflip, at the end of his free program. He got a two point deduction for the volt.
In ‘s commentary, the trick was frowned upon. Siao Him Fa was not the last skater in the competition, so his victory during the vault was not yet assured.
– A two-point deduction is risky to take at this stage. I think it’s maybe a bit arrogant and silly. Everyone knows that Volt is forbidden. It’s a sweet thing, but rules are rules for champions too, Mika Saarelainen said.
Estonian Alexander Selevko, 22, succeeded brilliantly in both programs and achieved silver with a combined score of 256.99. The EC medal is Estonia’s first in the history of men’s figure skating. Italian Matteo Rizzo25, was third with a total of 250.87.
Suntsevi’s experience was on the positive side
Finland Makar Suntsev, 19, was 20th in his first European Championship for adults. The experience was pleasant for him, although according to the Kotka native, the tension caused him to fumble a little in the free program.
– The short program was really good and the free program a little worse. I made mistakes that I don’t normally make. A decent whole, though. This was my first EC competition, and there is still not enough experience to do well right away, Suntsev said.
Peltonen returned to the prestigious race riding a roller coaster
The 2020 European Championship five Emmi Peltonen returned to the prestigious competition after a four-year hiatus. He suffered a long injury in recent years. Peltonen, who started the women’s final competition in 14th place, got a score of 108.01 in her free program, just like her best of the season. His total score was 164.74.
Peltonen’s tango-themed program started off a bit sticky as far as the jumps were concerned. Two triple lutzes were left as double jumps, and the pirouette that ended the program spun for too short a time, but otherwise the program was especially artistically successful.
– There were enough reliefs. Clearly my season is such a rollercoaster. I am patient and learning to compete again. All the time there is a terrible desire to show off. I feel that it is necessary to stop showing it, but to do what I know, Peltonen said.
Peltonen’s performance and skating as a whole again garnered praise from ‘s announcers.
– I am rarely moved as a hardened judge, but I was moved during this program. Emmi Peltonen’s ability to hear and feel music is quite unique. It is reflected in every point. There are not many skaters like this in the world. It’s a shame that the technical things went wrong, Saarelainen said.
Pelkonen started the day on the wrong foot
A first-timer at the European Championships Nella Pelkonen didn’t succeed in his free program for nothing. In his program, there were several reliefs in the jumps, and the scores remained low. Pelkonen’s score of 87.41 on the dreaded day was enough for 23rd place in the free program, meaning he was last to last. In the overall results, he was 21st.
According to the short-tempered Pelkonen, the failure was not due to too much tension.
– I do not know what happened. Sometimes it hurts like this. There was no pressure, but to be honest, the day started off a bit on the wrong foot. It just wasn’t a good feeling, Pelkonen said disappointedly.
The commentators hoped that the 18-year-old Pelkonen would not be left to brood over the failure in the free program. At the European Championships, however, the man from Tampere was left with a handsome seventh place in the short program.
– However, this was a tough place to be at the EC ice for the first time. Unfortunately, this was the bottom quote for this place. He knows those jumps and knocks them out every single day, Saarelainen said.
Although the result of the Finnish women was slower than expected, Finland retains its two places in the women’s single skating at the European Championships. Next year’s European Championships in January will be held in Croatia.
Belgian storm warning
Belgium won the EC gold in women’s single skating Loena Hendrickx. Hendrickx, 24, who has been chasing the European championship for a long time, won both the short and free program and secured the victory with 213.25 points.
– This was a really hard and determined performance. Here is a storm warning for Japan For Kaori Sakamoto To the World Championships, Honkavaara said.
A year ago, Hendrickx went to the European Championship in Espoo as a clear early favorite, but was disappointed with the silver place. Georgia, who won the EC gold in Espoo Anastasia Gubanova this time was silver with 206.52 points.
17 years old from Belgium Nina Pinzarrone took bronze in his second European Championships.
– Neither of us have an ice rink in Belgium, so we travel to the Netherlands for training. I hope that the decision-makers would open their eyes and we would get a better framework, Hendrickx said.
Väänänen and Clerici gained experience
Milania Väänänen and Filippo Clerici disappointed with their 14th place in pair skating. They were thirty points short of their record.
– In neither program did they reach the technical skill they are capable of, but they represented Finland in their first joint EC competitions in an exemplary manner, Honkavaara summed up.