Joubert regains European title; Nurmenkari 14th

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Brian Joubert of France took back his crown as the men's European figure skating champion in Helsinki's Hartwall Arena on Thursday night, despite not quite reaching the heights of his short programme.
      If Joubert's win was no great surprise, the other medallists were perhaps less predictable. Silver went to the largely unknown Italian Samuel Contesti, and Belgium's Kevin van der Perren took third by the narrowest of margins ahead of Yannick Ponsero of France.
      The biggest shock was the collapse of last year's champion Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic, who slipped from 2nd to 6th.
     
Finland's Ari-Pekka Nurmenkari, who had started brightly in the short programme to place tenth, was eventually 14th overall.
      His performance was not up to the earlier standard, and the judges also penalised him, interpreting his triple axel and triple lutz as double jumps, thus substantially reducing his points.
     
In the ice dance competition, the second phase - the original dance - saw no change at the top, as the Russian pairing of Jana Kokholova and Sergei Novitski continued to lead the way, ahead of
      Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali of Italy.
      In any event, the European title will go to a new pair of names, as the reigning European champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Sabal withdrew from the competition on Wednesday because of an injury to Sabal's knee, sustained when he fell during the compulsory dance. They were lying in 5th place at the time.
     
Friday sees the free skating component of the ice dance competition, and also the women's short programme, which is sure to attract a good crowd, as Finland's Susanna Pöykiö, Laura Lepistö, and Kiira Korpi all have hopes of being among the medals when the competition winds up on Saturday.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Nurmenkari lands in tenth place after short programme (22.1.2009)

Links:
  ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2009

Helsingin Sanomat