BERNE – French couple Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat were in pole position to win their first major title here at the figure skating European Championships on Wednesday heading the dance standings after the short programme.
The duo, favourites for the title after winning six of the seven competitions they have competed in, danced to music from Russian literary classic and later film Dr Zhivago to record a total of 66.91 points – they admitted that it was a theme that was close to their hearts.
“We have been training in Russia for two-and-a-half years, we live in Moscow, in minus 30 degrees. We understand the life so therefore we can perform well,” said Pechalat, referring to the choice of a Russian theme. Their closest challengers after the short programme are young Russian couple Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev – aged 20 and 21 respectively – who are just 1.5 points adrift.
