Figure Skating: After falls: Savchenko/Massot with second place

Fall festival at the season opener: The runners-up in figure skating world champions Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot had to settle for second place at the Nebelhorn Trophy in their home Oberstdorf after several involuntary landings on the ice.

After a stylistically brilliant but technically flawed freestyle routine, especially in the individual jumps and throws, the German pair scored 211.08 points.

“It was difficult today and a struggle, but it was feasible, a’ September freestyle’,”said Savchenko,”I think it can be a magnificent freestyle.The first part is packed full of maximum difficulties and in the second part Bruno must have a lot of strength.”

N Oberstdorf was still a mighty breeze upwards.In the short program Aljona Savchenko crashed at the threefold throw-faxel, on Friday she landed in the free skate again on the hard ice at the same throw.Massot also crashed in the second triple toeloop.Savchenko:”Falling today, standing tomorrow, that’s how it is in figure skating.”Until our first Grand Prix in four weeks in Canada, we’ll need a lot of practice.”

The victory went to the Russian European champions Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov (218,46), who did not fall but had a rather respectable freestyle routine compared to Savchenko/Massot.

Internationally, the sixth-placed runners-up also moved into the spotlight.The North Koreans Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik secured themselves the ticket for the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang in the south of the divided country with this rank, possibly writing sports history.

The WM-15.I was very emotional at the end of the freestyle program because I was very happy with our performance,”he said, adding,” I am the first and probably only athlete in her home country to continue to hope for a start in the south.I’m very grateful to our coaches,”Kim said.Neither of them wanted to answer questions about a possible Olympic start.

The second German couple Annika Hocke (Berlin) and Ruben Blommaert (Oberstdorf) made an excellent debut.After only six months of joint training, they finished fifth in their first competition (180.37).

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