European's begin in Berrrrrn

Switzerland's Moris Pfeifhofer competes in the preliminary round (Getty Images)

The first preliminary rounds for the European championships took place in still rather arctic conditions in Bern. According to Europe on Ice the cold conditions in the arena are due to the fact the entrances are not solid doors but simply turnstiles.

The top 18 skaters/pairs from last years championships have direct entry  (for their country's entry) to the short programme. The other skaters (in men's ladies and dance only) have to compete their free skate in a qualifying round. The men's event requires a top-11 finish; the ladies', a top-10 finish; and the ice dance, a top-8 finish. (confused yet?)

Here are the results from the first day of preliminaries. Note the more higher ranked entries did not have to compete in the preliminary rounds.


Men

FPl.	Name	Nation	Points	FS
1	Jorik HENDRICKX	BEL	118.46	1
2	Kim LUCINE	MON	115.12	2
3	Denis WIECZOREK	GER	111.96	3
4	Zoltan KELEMEN	ROU	106.57	4
5	Javier RAYA	ESP	100.82	5
6	Moris PFEIFHOFER	SUI	100.73	6
7	Justus STRID	DEN	100.42	7
8	Maxim SHIPOV	ISR	98.84	8
9	Maciej CIEPLUCHA	POL	97.14	9
10	Stephane WALKER	SUI	95.51	10
11	Ali DEMIRBOGA	TUR	92.58	11
12	David RICHARDSON	GBR	91.59	12
13	Tigran VARDANJAN	HUN	89.59	13
14	Damjan OSTOJIC	BIH	85.58	14
15	Jakub STROBL	SVK	83.21	15
16	Valtter VIRTANEN	FIN	79.90	16
17	Saulius AMBRULEVICIUS	LTU	76.40	17
18	Mikhail KARALIUK	BLR	71.03	18
19	Boyito MULDER	NED	70.25	19
20	Georgi KENCHADZE	BUL	68.46	20
WD	Viktor ROMANENKOV	EST

Dance

FPl.	Name	Nation	Points	FD
1	Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK	CZE	80.54	1
2	Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI	GER	79.27	2
3	Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND	GBR	73.79	3
4	Federica TESTA / Christopher MIOR	ITA	67.90	4
5	Sara HURTADO / Adria DIAZ	ESP	67.20	5
6	Irina SHTORK / Taavi RAND	EST	66.38	6
7	Allison REED / Otar JAPARIDZE	GEO	66.24	7
8	Isabella TOBIAS / Deividas STAGNIUNAS	LTU	65.36	8
9	Nikola VISNOVA / Lukas CSOLLEY	SVK	63.92	9
10	Kira GEIL / Tobias EISENBAUER	AUT	63.09	10
11	Zsuzsanna NAGY / Mate FEJES	HUN	61.70	11
12	Ramona ELSENER / Florian ROOST	SUI	53.50	12
13	Lesia VALADZENKAVA / Vitali VAKUNOV	BLR	53.41	13
14	Henna LINDHOLM / Ossi KANERVO	FIN	50.75	14
15	Kristina TREMASOVA / Dimitar LICHEV	BUL	42.88	15