When I came to do the Men, I wasn’t going to look up everybody because of the sheer number of entries (37). But, I was curious to know where Conor slotted in, so I did. I wish I hadn’t, because he ended up in 37th position.
Anyway, back to the top, and I really didn’t know what to do. Javi or Misha? Normally, it would be Javi all the way. But, they have been scoring very similarly this season. And although Kolyada is a St. Petersburg boy, the audience will be getting right behind him. Will this be added pressure or will it help him? Who knows?!
Sorry Javi, I’m a big fan, but I’m going for Misha.
Another big decision was over the remaining scoring positions. And I had so many to choose from. Samarin, Bychenko, Hendrickx, Kvitelashvili, Aliev, Majorov…
It could go any way. But, the way I went was with Samarin. I would have loved to have gone with Aliev as my second Russian, but that tactic has backfired every other time I have done it this season. And, in the end, he didn’t even make my Top 5 here, because I wanted to have Bychenko and Hendrickx in scoring positions.
I had actually been thinking of putting Hendrickx on the podium, because he is a dark horse for it. But I chickened out, and put him into 4th instead, with Bychenko in 5th.
Moris is another one that I had wanted to put in my Top 5, but there just aren’t enough spaces to put everybody in who could get in. So, he ended up 7th. And Majorov hasn’t been scoring as highly this season, so that is why I put him at the end of the battle.
For the remaining 2 positions in the Top 10, I went for 2 guys who I would like to see get into the Top 10. Firstly, Březina, because I like the guy and, after the success he has had in the past, I would like to see him get a decent result in his final Europeans. And secondly, Besseghier, because he deserves something good after the health problems he had earlier in the season, and because I like him and suspect this will be his final Europeans.
In Pairs, I was torn. Should I make my Top 5 a Russian-Italian hegemony, or should I have Vanessa and Morgan infiltrating? In the end, I went with the latter.
With Savchenko / Massot withdrawing, the first two places were always going to be going to Russia. And, I opted for Tarasova / Morozov over Stolbova / Klimov.
For third, I was torn between having an all-Russian podium (OK, so Natalja is Estonian, but you know what I mean!) and having James / Cipres on the podium. And in the end, I decided to break the Russian domination.
Knowing how much I love her, I think you all know who I am having complete my Top 5. Yes, the lovely Miss Marchei and Mr. Anna Cappellini.
I was tempted to put Ziegler / Kiefer as my alternate, as they have been getting more and more impressive every time I see them. But, della Monica / Guarise have been on the podium every competition they have done this season, and have been scoring a lot higher than the Austrians as well. So, there was no debate over who to have ahead.
For the rest, I kept them in absolute PB order. For the simple reason that the next three on the list were the 3 that I was going to have rounding up my Top 10 anyway, but I didn’t know what order to put them into!
I have to admit, I was disappointed to find that partnership representing Switzerland were at the bottom of the field. I had actually been tempted to put them into the Top 10. Although, that is just the devil in me wanting to hear the commentators attempts at saying Yulia’s surname!
Since I am not going to be watching LIVE due to “technical difficulties” (the new HDMI lead hasn’t arrived yet, and I am not finding it enjoyable to watch skating with the picture in front of me at one end of the room and the sound behind me at the other end of the room), I will break away now and do the remaining categories after I have my breakfast.
CaroLiza_fan
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Men
1. Mikhail KOLYADA, RUS
2. Javier FERNANDEZ, ESP
3. Alexander SAMARIN, RUS
4. Jorik HENDRICKX, BEL
5. Alexei BYCHENKO, ISR
Just for fun:
6. Dmitri ALIEV, RUS
7. Moris KVITELASHVILI, GEO
8. Alexander MAJOROV, SWE
9. Michal BREZINA, CZE
10. Chafik BESSEGHIER, FRA
Pairs
1. Evgenia TARASOVA / Vladimir MOROZOV, RUS
2. Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV, RUS
3. Vanessa JAMES / Morgan CIPRES, FRA
4. Natalia ZABIIAKO / Alexander ENBERT, RUS
5. Valentina MARCHEI / Ondrej HOTAREK, ITA
Just for fun:
6. Nicole DELLA MONICA / Matteo GUARISE, ITA
7. Miriam ZIEGLER / Severin KIEFER, AUT
8. Annika HOCKE / Ruben BLOMMAERT, GER
9. Paige CONNERS / Evgeni KRASNOPOLSKI, ISR
10. Lola ESBRAT / Andrei NOVOSELOV, FRA
:
