2026 Europeans - Pairs Free Skate - "Don’t Drop Me Now"

[Karen-W]

Okay, Chris... Keep talking about how great MetBeru are in practice and the warm-up...

 

[MacMadame]

Tonia sounds like she is losing her voice.

 

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

"They have meatloaf for their free"

 

[Nadin]

I expected these two to go clean but turns out they won’t do THAT

 

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

They will do anything for love but they won't do throw 3 loop.

 

[skatingguy]

Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel
Rank after SP: 4
Coach: Ondrej Hotarek, Luca Dematte, Nolan Seegert
Music: I’d Do Anything for Love by Meatloaf

Triple Twist 3
3S
2A<+1A+2A+SEQ - some messy landings
Reverse Lasso Lift 4
Throw 3F
Axel Lasso Lift 4
Throw 3Lo - two-footed
Hand-to-Hip Lift 4
Back Outside Death Spiral 3
Pair Combo Spin 4
Choreo Sequence

Solid performance, and an improvement from what we've seen from them the last couple of seasons, but probably too little too late given the pairs in the top 3.

-1.00 = Time Violation
122.80 = 1st Place
188.27 = 1st Place

 

[Karen-W]

HocKun - LOL, oh, Chris, this team is not in contention for a medal... 3tw - very nice; SBS 3s - good; SBS 2a+1a+2a - bit messy, but both stayed up; first lift - nice; throw 3f - huge; second lift - solid; throw 3lo - two-footed landing; last lift - fine; BODS - good; combo spin - alright; choreo seq - selling the heck out of it and getting the crowd going - I approve! Okay, so they may be in the medal mix if one of the last three teams cucks it up.

 

[delayedaxel]

Love it! The energy, the lifts!

 

[Hedwig]

H/K
3twist nice
sbs 3sal wow, really nice! Annika already did one in the warm-up
sbs 2a1a2a bit messy but done
throw 3flip huge
throw 3loop df

this music is so annoying and repetitive but their skate was very strong for them!
happy for them!
happy tears

 

[Vagabond]

Hocke pounds the ice and then picks up the chips.

 

[tangerine dream]

I don't usually love H/K's skating but I root for them because they are such lovely people. This was a good skate for them although one of the lifts crawled to a near halt.

 

[susieB129]

Hocke/Kunkel always make me smile. I'm so happy for them.

 

[miffy]

I have to say Hocke has grown on me. I wasn't keen on her first partner and maybe that put me off. She always seems so happy out there and never gets tired

 

[tangerine dream]

They will do anything for love but they won't do throw 3 loop.

One does not do 3 loop for love, only for points.

 

[her grace]

Hocke/Kunkel pretty clean. Skated like they were in slow motion midway through program but picked up speed at end for crowd pleasing swing-your-partner-around moves

 

[Sally1214]

I LOVED that from Annika and Robert. I GASPED out loud at the final moves ..... MAN, she was sooooo close to hitting the ice. Give them all the points .... just do it. They were so exciting. Extra points for the awesome matching costumes too And, Annika's smile reached all the way to the rafters.

 

[Wyliefan]

I happened to look up from work just as that one lift was screeching to a halt and got a little freaked out. Glad it wasn't anything serious.

 

[Citlali]

The best I have seen this program skated I was hoping for a clean skate with the 3sal, but really really good overall

 

[Hanna]

Hocke/Kunkel always make me smile. I'm so happy for them.

This! They always seem to be giving it their all, no matter how it goes.

I'm getting a little emotional thinking about all these pairs that have been around forever that we might not be seeing for much longer.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

When was the last time 2 German pairs were in the top 4 at Euros?

 

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

How come Alexei looks 10 y.o all of a sudden?

 

[tangerine dream]

When was the last time 2 German pairs were in the top 4 at Euros?

2023 - H/K 3rd, Efimova/Blommaert 4th

 

[Hedwig]

P/S
3twist
sbs 3toe2a2a
throw 3flip
sbs 3sal she stumbles out of it
throw 3loop

 

[terisa]

I am not cut out for pairs fandom. I took stomach acid blockers for two weeks, and after watching Robert sling her around like that, my acid is back!!!

 

[rfisher]

Hungary on the podium. Check.

 

[Private Citizen]

Five elements under review. All of her SBS jumps looked short to me.

 

[Karen-W]

PavSvia - 3tw - gorgeous; SBS 3t+2a+2a - alrighty then; throw 3f - so lovely; SBS 3s - messy landing, short of rotation for her; first lift - fine; shouldn't these costumes look like fire or the sun rather than dark night given the song they're skating to? Second lift - nice; BODS - fine; throw 3lo - great; last lift - good; choreo seq - fine; combo spin - first position is interesting but this is slow & the transition was a bit messy, not a good impression to leave the judges with. Well, seeing they had a nearly 8 point lead from the SP, they're fine for a medal, Chris.

 

[skatingguy]

Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko
Rank after SP: 3
Coach: D. Savin, F. Klimov, S. Evdokimova
Music: Without You by Ursine Vulpine

Triple Twist 3 (4 after review)
3T+2A+2A+SEQ
Throw 3F
3S< - Maria stepped out
Reverse Lasso Lift 4 (3 after review)
Axel Lasso Lift 4
Back Outside Death Spiral 2 (B after review)
Throw 3Lo
Hand-to-Hip Lift 4
Choreo Sequence
Pair Combo Spin 3 (3V after review)

Not their strongest free skate of the season, but they worked the program, and the improvements in their overall presentation, and skating skills should be enough to land them on the podium after being 4th in so many competitions.

-1.00 = Time Violation
129.24 = 1st Place
202.56 = 1st Place

 

[her grace]

Throw timing was excellent by the Hungarians

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

So what are Pav/Svi's actual Hungarian skills like? My polyglot father told me the other day that Hungarian is one of his favourite languages to swear in.