Last year, the couples who challenged Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis for the European Championship bronze now edged ahead of the Finns in the rhythm dance.
A year ago Juulia to Turkey and Matthias Versluis faced enormous expectations at the European Figure Skating Home Championships, which they managed to fulfill in Espoo. The Finnish couple won the European Championship bronze and returned Finland to the medal base in ice dance after a break of almost 30 years.
Turkkila and Versluis are now defending the EC bronze in Kaunas, Lithuania. In Friday’s rhythm dance, they skated perfectly and achieved a score of 76.36. They missed their record by 1.3 points.
Despite their success, Turkkila and Versluis are only sixth after the rhythm dance. On Saturday, a more significant free dance will be skated in the points, where the final rankings and EC medals will be decided.
– It was a successful whole. A few levels we were aiming for were missed from the step sequence. Because of that, the technical scores remained low. We did what we could. Strong skating, Turkkila said.
1. Charlene Guignard / Marco Fabbri ITA 86.80
2. Lilah Fear / Lewis Gibson GBR 85.20
3. Allison Reed / Saulius Ambrulevicius LTU 80.73
4. Yevgenija Lopareva / Geoffrey Brissaud FRA 78.47
5. Natalie Taschlerova / Filip Taschler CZE 76.68
6. Juulia Turkkila / Matthias Versluis FIN 76.36
7. Diana Davis / Gleb Smolkin GEO 76.33
8. Loicia DeMougeot / Theo le Mercier FRA 75.69
9. Katerina Mrazkova / Daniel Mrazek CZE 75.19
10. Yuka Orihara / Juho Pirinen FIN 68.59
Ylen narrators Sara Honkavaara and Mika Saarelainen according to, the level of ice dancing has increased since last year.
– Everyone has developed. So do the Finns, but in the name of truth Juulia and Matthias strength is not the theme of the 80s. Free dance suits them much better, says Honkavaara.
Saarelainen, who works as an ice dance judge, missed the risk-taking in the skating of Turkkila and Versluis. The Czechs edged ahead of the Finns Natalie Taschlerova and Philip Taschler according to Saarelainen, are not quite as skilled as Turkkila and Versluis.
According to the commentators, Turkkila and Versluis were a little cautious in the rhythm dance.
– The Czechs are by no means the best, but their ability to take risks is. Taschlerova leans on the arc so much that she either survives or pulls the trigger. It is on the fine line, says Saarelainen.
Turkkila and Versluis haven’t seen the kind of excitement around Turkkila and Versluis like last year before the home games. Lithuanian couple Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius is in the same situation as the Finnish stars last year. The Lithuanians, who finished fourth last year, are third in their home competition in Kaunas with the top score of 80.73 in rhythmic dance.
– Lithuanians had a tooth cavity from last year. When they found out they had a home race, they must have started hitting really hard. Accuracy decided the victory in levels and step series, Honkavaara estimated.
The free dance will be contested on Saturday. Although the difference from third place is four points, it is still possible for Turkkila and Versluis to renew their bronze. The top two of the last games, Italy Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri and Great Britain Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson clearly stood out from the others.
Also a year ago, Turkkila and Versluis’s toughest challengers in the EC bronze fight were the Lithuanians, the French (Lopareva/Brissaud) and the Czechs. Now in the rhythm dance, the situation changed, and these three couples wedged ahead of the Finns.
– It is of course easier to pass from behind. I believe that Juulia and Matthias will appreciate this, says Honkavaara.
Finland’s second pair Yuka Orihara/Juho Pirinen is tenth. The commentators believe that the direction of Orihara and Pirinen will be upward on the results list on Saturday.
– This season’s most talked about free dance among the international judges is Yuka and Juhon. It has attracted attention. People ask who these people are, says Saarelainen.
The free dance competition starts on Saturday at 18:30. Both Finnish pairs skate last in the previous group: Orihara/Pirinen at 20:31 and Turkkila/Versluis at 20:54.