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Tuesday, the 17th: CD and Pairs SP

On Tuesday morning we had discovered that the official bus shuttles actually leave at the Perrache train station close to our hotel and that we could use them to get to the rink (of course by then we had bought a week's worth of now useless tickets for public transportation in Lyon).

When we went into the rink for the first time for competition, we learned that it's actually not forbidden to bring water bottles into the rink, but only to bring the caps of the bottles into the rink, since Susanne's bag was searched and she had to give the security guys the cap of her bottle, but was allowed to bring in the actual bottle.

Steffi and I just were asked to open our backpacks, so we did and the security guy just threw a glance into it, so they of course didn't see the water bottles with caps at the bottom of our backpacks.

We wanted to kill the time before the CD with having a drink in the rink restaurant, but were told that it's only possible if we also eat something, so we didn't. I also discovered that the bathrooms in the rink are quite yucky, but at least they never were as crowded as in Italy.

I only noted down two things about the Compulsory Dance, that Tatiana Navka came out into the skating entrance to watch ChaSaks and Zaretzki's Compulsory Dances and looked very cute (she always looks very cute) and that seeing him live, Steffi finally admitted that I got a point about Roman Zaretzki being good-looking and cute :P (even if she then got really amused by his version of a „passionate facial expression“ :D )

Generally I don't like the music of the Tango Romantica very much, but the steps are quite interesting. Still I would have preferred the Ravensburger and of course the Yankee Polka!

The official opening before the Pairs SP consisted only of a number of synchro teams of different ages being on the ice all at the same time, they weren't bad and seeing like 4 synchro teams at once on the ice is more impressive than just one. Also Marie Lundmark as the official ISU representative gave an opening speech in „English“, which was actually hilarious, cause she has the worst English pronouncation we ever heard, she couldn't even pronounce „International Skating Union“ and „figure skating“ 'lol'

The Pairs SP started with Spassova & Todorov, they did sbs 2loops and attempted a throw triple for the first time, the throw-3salchow, but she fell. Still I think it's great that they're upping the difficulty. As always they had good pairs elements and their speed was ok.

Rennik & Saks also seem to have plans to up the difficulty, cause they attempted sbs-3flips! She was completely off-axis and stepped onto the wrong foot though (plus I think her attempt was underrotated), I didn't notice what he did. I saw her do a decent attempt in the warm-up though (about as clean as John Baldwin's 3toeloop at US Nationals) and I think he also landed one there. They landed the throw3salchow deep in the knee (maybe with touchdown) and otherwise had an ok skate and speed. However their footwork was off-synch and I have seen them skate much better lately.

Fitze & Rex did sbs-3toeloops and a throw3salchow that was landed with her leaning forward, but she saved it. They had a lift with a one-handed exit that was a bit shaky. Their speed was a bit better than the first 2 pairs. I think generally it was the best I've seen them skate in ages.

Totmianina & Marinin were very fast and fluent and of course they nailed their elements. They are always an absolute highlight to watch live, I could just watch their beautiful style for ages even if they were just skating around in circles.

Handke & Wende did a 2twist with a near fall on the landing, they really seem to have a lot of problems with this elements generally, they also had a bad fall on it during the warmup at Nebelhorn Trophy. Their throw3loop was good, she stepped out of the sbs-3t, while he landed it, the rest was fine. I was impressed how much more polished and high quality they looked in their overall skating in comparison to Nebelhorn Trophy earlier in the season. Their music was the Amelie soundtrack.

Dikthiar & Zalevski skated their SP to Tango type music, but had problems with the elements: throw3loop fall, sbs 2a, she stumbles out. They had nice footwork and good choreography and a powerful style, it's too bad they didn't skate better. Steffi and I had already enjoyed them at Nebelhorn, even if they of course aren't very good yet.

Prokuronova & Stefl were the only really new (as in never seen before) team at Europeans for us. Their music was the ever popular „Xotica“. They did sbs-2flips, a 2footed throw3flip and had good speed and flow and unison for a new team, even if their style and program at this point is a bit generic. I think they should be promising for the future.

Steffi was worrying about Julia Obertas sbs3toeloop, since it wasn't very consistent in warm-up, but she landed it, even if it was a bit shaky. Apart from that Obertas & Slavnov had a throw3flip and a lift with an one handed entry and exit.

Petrova & Tikhonov had a great skate in the SP, they were very fast and powerful, especially in the first 2/3 of their programs. They were an absolute highlight in the SP :) , it was one of the most impressive and entertaining skates I've seen from them. Generally their SP performances seem to be a LOT more interesting than their LP's.

Pla & Bonheur skated to „Blues for Klook“, not exactly one of my favorite pieces of music, but they had very good speed and power. They even landed their throw3salchow, which was really surprising, since they had about a 2 out of 8 success rate during the practice and warm-up we saw of them. It was generally a very good skate for them, apart from him falling on the sbs3toeloop.

Kemp & King were fun cool costumes and I think skated to the „Kill Bill“ soundtrack. They tried sbs-2loops, but he fell out. He also fell on some in-betweens and were a bit slow and cautious, but they had a nice throw3loop. However I think they are a good match and a cute new pair.

Sawchenko & Szolkowy did their sbs3toeloop and then she landed the throw3loop, which was wide and high, but she was leaning forward on the landing and there was no good running edge out of it. Their speed and flow was nice, but not as good as T&M or P&T. However they of course had one of the most detailed choreographies in the SP.

Beloglazova & Bekh, did sbs2axels, but she fell on the throw3loop and crashed into the boards. Their throws really frustrate me, cause they always screw them up in competition, even though they are able to land really impressive ones in practice. They had a shaky pairs spin and had a cautiously skated and rather boring program.

I was expecting something nice from Zagorska & Siudek, but unfortunately they had a really bad skate. I really liked Dorota's nice hairstyle and her white dress though, she looked adorable! Unfortunately she fell on the sbs3toeloop and on the footwork, plus they were rather slow.

After the Pairs SP we wanted to take the shuttle bus to the official hotel to reserve a table at the restaurant for Saturday night, but we got into the wrong bus :shuffle: (Line B instead of Line A), so we took a little round trip around the nightly Lyon before returning to the rink and getting into the right bus. Of course we could have like checked which line is written on the bus or something smart like that :P

I'm afraid that Belsornia might be starting to become seriously :scream: about the thought of travelling around events with us if we continue like that, since we must be making a really chaotic overall impression :o