Russia nets men's gold in ISU European Figure Skating Championships

TALLINN, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The third day of the International Skating Union (ISU) European Figure Skating Championships saw Mark Kondratiuk of Russia being crowned the men's champion here on Friday.

The 18-year-old Kondratiuk, who finished second after the men's short program on Wednesday, set a new personal best of 187.50 points in the free program and claimed gold in his ISU European Championship debut with a total score of 286.56.

Italy's Daniel Grassl came from fifth in the short program to bag the silver medal after a performance of 182.73 points in the free program and 274.48 points in total, while Deniss Vasiljevs of Latvia climbed from sixth and earned 181.84 points in free program to net the bronze with 272.08 points in total.

2020 World Junior Champion Andrei Mozalev of Russia slipped from first in the short program to fourth with 265.69 points in total.

In the ice dance rhythm dance earlier on Friday, the 2021 World Champions and defending European Champions Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia set a season best of 87.89 points, taking a slim lead of 1.44 points over teammates Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin.

Italy's Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri are currently ranked third with 83.35 points.

The ice dance free dance and the women's free program are set to be held on Saturday, followed by Sunday's exhibition gala.