OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (AP) Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte took the lead in the ice dance at the European championships after winning the short dance Thursday.
Performing blues and lively boogie woogie, the 2014 European and world champions from Italy earned 76.65 points. It opened a lead of less than a half point ahead of the 2013 champions Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev of Russia, who scored 76.18.
Defending champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France, seeking a third straight title, trailed by less than a point with 75.48, setting a showdown for the free dance on Saturday.
In the short dance, competitors have 2 minutes, 50 seconds to perform required moves to given music.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.