Alexandra and Roman Zaretsky finished 7th in the ice dance competition of the 2010 European Championships earning 84.36 points for their free dance to the soundtrack of Schindler’s List and 174.91 points overall. The curve lift in the free dance which had got Level 4 in all the previous competitions of the season received Level 2 only. The explanation given by the Technical Panel was that from their angle they could not see the difficult entry into the lift…

Tamar Katz has been suffering from the complications of a severe virus which kept her off the ice for about two weeks. She only returned to training 5 days before the competition. This affected her coordination and she couldn’t maintain her balance on the lutz combo and one of her spins. She finished 21st among 42 competitors with 43.70 points, just 0.7 short of a place in the final.

By the new rule, only 20 competitors in single skating make it to the final as opposed to 24 in previous competitions.

Tamar is the first Israeli single skating lady to qualify for the Winter Olympics by the International Olympic Committee criteria. Yesterday she didn’t qualify by the Israeli Olympic committee criteria. Because she qualified by the international rules she still has the right to represent Israel in the Winter Olympics and make history for the first time. She hopes that the Board of the Elite Sports Department will consider this option.