Russian pair Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov in Zagreb, Croatia, January 22, 2008
Photo: AP, AP
|
 |
Russian Skaters Glide toward Medals
Russian skaters were full of surprises at the Euroskates European Skating Championship in Zagreb, Croatia. Three Russian pairs, including debutantes 17-year-old Arina Ushakova and 21-year-old Sergey Karev, placed in the top five competitors after the short program. German pair Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy placed first, followed by Russians Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov and Ukrainians Tatyana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov. Russian pair Yuko Kawaguti and Alexander Smirnov and Ushakova and Karev are in fourth and fifth place, respectively. Kawaguti and Smirnov are competing in a European championship as national champions for the second time. They are being trained by Tamara Moskvina.
Savchenko commented that “Frankly, I don't like people who copy others. Mukhortova and Trankov try to do everything exactly like Tatyana Totmyanin and Maxim Marinin: their hairstyles, costumes, elements, arm and leg movements. It seems to me that all figure skaters should strive to become independent personalities and to have their own attitude toward what they do on the ice and toward their programs. Kawaguuti and Smirnov, on the other hand, have their own individual style.”
Natalia Pavlova had only recently moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow to work with seven pairs of skaters at the new Bluebird facility in the Otradnoe neighborhood, when Ushakov, a native of Perm, and Karev, a Lipetsk native, asked her to take them on as well in April of last year. They had both worked with other partners earlier.
Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin occupy second place after the compulsory dance. They have a single goal in Zagreb: to win against current European champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder, as they did a month ago in Turin. Their trainer is Alexey Gorshkov. Shabalin still limps a little from a December knee operation. Another Russian pair, Yana Khokhlova and Sergey Novitsky, are ranked third after the compulsory dance.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 24, 2008
|
|
|
