European Championships: Pairs free skate

Kavaguti/Smirnov: sbs 3t-3t seq, sbs 2a,  throw 4s (!!), 3twist, throw 3lo step out, difficult exit of the press lift. Gorgeous program overall, but the end was quite shaky. they win the title.

Stolbova/Klimov: 3twist, throw 3f step out, sbs 3t-2t-2t with great unison, good sbs spin, sbs 2a, fall just before the throw 3s, so that they were not able to do it. Door wide open for Kavaguti/Smirnov. They were very temptative throughtout the entire program.

Tarasova/Morozov: gorgeous 3twist, sbs 3s with great unison and running edge, sbs 3t-2t good as the previous one sbs, high throw 3lo, throw 3s, aborted star lift. Gorgoeus program for them, they lost some points on the lift, but quality was there otherwise. TES around 64, 125.89 free skate score

Marchei/Hotarek: sbs 3lz, throw 3f, 2tw, sbs 2s-2t, throw 3s. Very good program, with difficult lifts. They were incredible considering that they have 5 months of practice.

James/Cipres: 3twist with shaky landing, sbs 3t-2t-2t, sbs 2s, aborted axel lasso, throw 3f, throw 3s step out. They just lost the bronze medal by a landslide. 107.16 

Della Monica/Guarise: 3twist, sbs 3s step out, sbs 2a, throw 3lo step out, throw 3s. 107.34

Vartmann/Van Cleave: 3twist, sbs 3t fall for both, throw 3f fall, sbs 1s, good sbs spin, throw 3s, good quality lifts, that boosted their technical score. 100.91 free skate score

Yankowskas/Gaman: 2twist, sbs 2t fall, aborted on death spiral, sbs 1a, throw 3lo step out, throw 3s hand down. Every element was completed with difficulty. TES 33.60 at the end of the program. They will probably drop.

European Championships: pairs short program

Stolbova/Klimov had not their best program today. There were some exceptional elements such as the side by side triple toe and the side by side spin. The triple twist wasn't great and in the landing of the throw triple flip Ksenia's free leg slightly touched the ice. However, with some good GOEs and the highest components score of the afternoon assured them a 71.38 that put them in first place.

Kavaguti/Smirnov skated a superb short to the music of Meditation from Thais by Massenet. They were flawless technique wise, doing a side by side triple toe, a good triple twist that is usually their nemesis and a throw triple loop. Their elegant program was worth 33.44 points as components score for a total of 69.86

James/Cipres, despite having had a difficult fall season due to injuries, skated their best with energy and attack and got a surprising third place. They nailed a not so clean triple twist, a very good side by side triple toe and a huge throw triple lutz. 60.13

Marchei/Hotarek debuted as a couple at the European Championships short program. They skated early in the second group. Valentina Marchei did her first appereance as a pairs skater. Their performace was very decent considering her unexperience in the discipline; they nailed a side by side triple salchow, a double twist and a throw triple flip. Even though new pairs always need some time to rodate, Marchei/Hotarek are the perfect match as a debuting couple because Valentina is a good single skater and Ondrej is very experienced as a pair skater. 57.95

Tarasova/Morozov were serious contenders for a medal position. They opened with the best elements of their program, a gorgeous triple twist, but then started to faltered. At first Eugenia doubled the side by side triple toe and stepped out of the throw triple loop. The other technical elements had a high quality, but the mistakes cost them few positions. That has to be said that they have all the potential to recover from their debacle and improve their ranking in the free skate, even with three points separating them from third place. 57.13

European Championships 2015: Pairs preview

The question is: will Russia nail a pairs sweep as in 2014? Honestly, the Russian team has all the credentials to accomplish this result despite the absence of the Olympic champions Volosozhar/Trankov. 

The olympic silver medalists Stolbova/ Klimov will attempt their first European title in Stockholm. They have been incredibly consistent during the fall season, they have established themselves as top world contenders and their multi-language Notre Dame free skate has captured many's hearts. The goal for them will be not only to take home a European gold medal, but also to improve on the already good scores they received during the grand prix in order to be more competitve against Duhamel/Radford at Worlds. It will be interesting to see weather they will upgrade their technical content next week.

Stolbova/Klimov's free skate at Grand Prix Final

Kavaguti/Smirnov and Tarasova/Morozov are runners up for the other two medals. Tarasova/Morozov, gorgeous couple who made the senior debut this year, won the silver medal with a superb free skate at Nationals ahead of Kavaguti/Smirnov. It is true that Kavaguti/Smirnov have a considerably more difficult free skate compare to Tarasova/Morozov's and probably even an advantage as far as components are concerned, but they often tend to struggle on different technical elements so that not even a nicely executed throw quad salchow can assure them against their younger competitors.

Tarasova/Morozov's free skate at Russian Nationals

Kavaguti/Smirnov's free skate at Russian Nationals