Ice Skating: Champions set the pace with tango

The world ice-dance champions, Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh of Russia, held the lead after the compulsory dance at the European Championships here yesterday despite being the first pair to skate.

Lobacheva and Averbukh earned marks from 5.5 to 5.8 for the Tango Romantica, the only compulsory dance of the championships under new rules. "It was tough to skate first," Averbukh said. "I think we would have had some high marks if we had skated later."

Bulgaria's Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviyski were second with Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov of Russia third.

Due to declining interest in compulsory dances, the International Skating Union Congress last June voted to have just one.

Tomorrow sees the original dance, worth 30 per cent of the total score, with the free dance, worth 50 per cent, on Friday.