Men's Short in Warsaw
By Helga Dobor and
Titanilla Bod
Photos © Caroline Pare
32 men appeared at the start of the short program at the European
Championships in Warsaw, ready to show their stuff. AS reporters
Helga Dobor & Titanilla Bod met with some of the skaters after
their performance to get their comments.
Alper Ucar, Turkey
I tried to do my best. Actually I think I skated good - I like
my work, and I would like to perform
much better at Worlds in Japan. I like my program and I like my
coach too, so we'll work more for the Worlds.
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Why did you come to skate in Hungary?
Alper: Actually it was two years ago when we went to Slovenia
for a summer-camp. I met Andras Szaraz there, and we worked
together. I like his style, his technique so much, I think
we worked well there. Then I said to him that I wanted to
work with him and he accepted me, it's such a honour for me.
He said I had to move to Budapest, so I did, and I love Budapest
so much! But you know, the history of Turkey and Hungary wasn't
so friendly (we all smile)
And have you learnt some Hungarian words?
- Persze, persze - laughs. (ed.: of course, of course - Hungarian)
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Igor Matsipura
It's ok, it doesn't matter. I made some little mistakes and it
was a little bit slow, I could have
done better.
What do you think of the competition?
I try to be in the top twenty, probably better.
What do you think about representing Slovakia?
It's a pleasure to represent Slovakia.
Why did you choose this country?
I like this country, it's really beautiful.
How much time do you spend there?
Four weeks, a month and a half, not more than two months.
What's your favorite place there?
I like Nitra and Bratislava |
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Jamal Othman:
I'm very content with the short program of course. It was
almost without fault and for me it gives me lots of confidence
to skate the program in front of this audience. Now I'm the
number one Swiss man this time, but it's very difficult to
say what I expect from the competition, because everything
is about the free program. We will see tomorrow.
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Moris Pfeifhofer:
I'm here for good experience and I did in my short what I
planned to do, and it's excellent for me. Are you satisfied
now? (smile)
Yes, I have a new personal best, and I didn't expect that,
because at Juniors the components are lower than here, so
that's unusual, so I'm very happy with that.
It is your first European Championships, how do you
like it?
It's great. The whole Championship is great, and every morning
when I wake up it's like: I'm here - and totally awakened,
it's great. (tells this with stars in his eyes)
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Kristoffer Berntsson:
What did you think of your short program?
I'm happy with my performance today. This was a very tough
week for me, and the practices were hard.
What do you expect from the long program?
I want to have a really good performance and I know I can
do it.
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Brian Joubert
How do you feel about your performance?
I’m not satisfied with my program. I made a mistake
in the combination and I lost many
points. But despite the mistake I stayed focused and the rest
of the programme was very clean.
It’s hard for me because I like to fight against skaters
such as Plushenko and Stephane
Lambiel. But I have to stay focused on my job.
So actually you regret Lambiel is not here?
Yes! (laughs)
What happened in the combination jump?
I wasn’t “strong in the body”, that’s
why I made this mistake.
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Only three skaters planned to attempt a quad in the short
program. What do you think about it?
I think it’s not good for the men’s skating. In 2002
everybody did quads, now nobody.
Will you try the three quads in your free program?
Yes, now I would like to land the three quads.
We'll all hold our breath while watching the finale tonight!
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