Urmanov leads Russian trio
Posted: Tuesday January 26, 1999 07:59 PM
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Urmanov hasn't skated the Europeans in two years, but won in his last attempt, in 1997 AP |
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) -- Alexei Urmanov drew on his strength -- classic balletic skating -- to edge his up-tempo Russian rivals in the short program Tuesday at the European Figure Skating Championships.
This Europeans is a showdown of Russian champions, Urmanov, Alexei Yagudin and Yevgeny Plushenko, and technically, there was little to distinguish the three during the short. Though the elements could vary, all three did triple axel-triple toe loop combinations, triple lutzes and the required double axel.
But skating to Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D-Minor, Urmanov grabbed the crowd from the start with crisp skating, secure landings and -- above all -- the easy grace that made him 1994 Olympic champion. Not for one beat did he lose the crowd, or music -- hitting the required double axel on a musical crescendo.
Urmanov -- at 25, older and more experienced than his rivals -- was more polished than 16-year-old training partner Plushenko, who is second going into Thursday's free program on the strength of his lively short to the Jewish folk song, "Hava Naglia."
The only 6.0 in competition was awarded as an artistic score to Yagudin's sprightly one-man "Circus," featuring clowns, jugglers and mimes, which finished second in the short. After crashing in the qualifying, which for the first time counts toward the final score, Yagudin is third going into the free.
All this basically means is that any of the Russian men can walk away with the title. Whoever wins the long program, wins it all. And all three contenders said they will try the quad -- though only Plushenko has delivered one in this competition, during qualifying on Monday.
"Everything starts today," Urmanov decreed. "The competition really begins the day after tomorrow," with the free program.
This is the first Europeans Urmanov has skated in two years, since winning the 1997 title, and a victory would mark a remarkable comeback -- and give new shine to his 1994 Olympic gold -- after a year off with an injury.
But leading into the final is familiar territory for Urmanov. That's where he was in the 1997 worlds in Lausanne, Switzerland, when he had to pull out with the injury.
Yagudin, the world and European champion, admitted feeling the pressure of defending the title. It showed disastrously during Monday's qualifying when he crashed on his first jump.
However, he'd regained his composure for the short program, an innovatively choreographed piece that departs from standard classical style, and reflects the influence of his new coach, Tatiana Tarasova, famed as an ice dancing coach.
"Today, I expected to skate well," Yagudin said. "Maybe I made enough mistakes in the last two competition."
A fall on a triple axel early in the short knocked French champion Laurent Tobel out of the top three, even though he'd led his qualifying round. In fact, most of the programs outside of the top four or five were plagued by errors.
In ice dancing, world champions Angelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov led after the compulsory section, giving the Russians leads in the men's, dance and pairs events. The women begin their competition Wednesday with qualifying.
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