FFor Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel, who came third at the European Championships, the World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan, started with a bitter disappointment. After the short program, the German pair skating champions are only in 15th place and thus fell far short of their expectations.
On the other hand, Alissa Jefimowa from Oberstdorf and Ruben Blommaert from Berlin presented a solid short freestyle on their debut at the World Championships and will be seventh in the freestyle decision on Thursday (3:00 a.m.CET).
“I’ll just take painkillers”
“I currently have back problems, we even thought about canceling our start at short notice. But we want to end the season well after the positive results at the German Championships and the European Championship. Now I’m just taking painkillers, but I’ll have intensive treatment after the World Cup,” said Kunkel.
The national competitors of the two Berliners who train in Bergamo were happier. Blommaert: “We made one mistake, but the rest of the program was fine. And we can also be satisfied with the ratings.”
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara from Japan took the lead in the intermediate classification. Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier from the USA as well as the Italian European champions Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii came closest to the local heroes.
As in the world title fights in Montpellier last year, the top couples from Russia, who have been dominating for years, are excluded from participation because of the war of aggression in Ukraine.