Trophee Bompard- Pairs

At the Trophee Bompard, the pairs event had some results that we not exactly what we expected, but with only a short program, this event didn't allow for some of the teams who finished behind where they were expected to to make a comeback.

Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov won the short program, but I'm not a huge fan of this short program. She is trying to sell it, but he's not great at it, and what they're doing is not what I would consider up to par for a Bollywood program. They made a pretty good return to the big leagues after a season off, but I'm not sure they're going to be able to challenge for the top of the podium at worlds, and may not finish on the podium at worlds at all.

Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres made a surprising finish after the short, sitting in second place. They skated well, and they have a program that suits their style. If they can continue to skate this way, they'll stand a good chance at a very successful season.

Another surprise was Julianne Seguin and Charlie Bilodeau. They were placed in third after the short. I would say, this will put them solidly in second in the Canadian rankings. They are far more consistent than most pairs teams, and their short isn't my favourite, but it's clear they enjoy the music, and so the programs work for them.

Perhaps the most surprising short program rank was Evgenia Tarasova and Vladamir Morozov. They were in 7th after the short. They were not too far behind in terms of points, Only just over 3 points shy of second, but they still were not nearly as successful as they can be. They are very strong skaters, but they didn't show that here.

European Championships- Pairs

The pairs event at the European Championships were the big surprise in Stockholm. Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov took the gold, ahead of Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov. The downfall of Stolbova and Klimov was a stupid mistake, tripping over his toepicks.

The rest of the event was extremely tense, with the cameras cutting to Stolbova and Klimov off ice after their skate.Though Russia dominated the pairs podium Ksenia Stolbova looked anything but pleased.

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Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov took the third spot on the podium behind their teammates, completing the Russian dominated podium. The had solid skates but in the grand scheme of the event a little forgettable.

Valentina Marchei and Ondrej Hotarek were the surprise of the event. Valentina has just made the transition from singles to pairs and has made a splash with Hotarek. They took me by surprise with their incredibly strong pairs element. They also have side by side triple lutzes, becoming the second pair to compete them.