World ice dancing champions Albena Denkova/ Maxim Staviyski of Bulgaria placed third after a compulsory dance on the first day of the European Championships of figure skating here on Tuesday.
The Bulgarian duo performed a wonderful golden waltz and gained 38.56 points -- 19.68 for technical elements and 18.88 for component of program.
The French combination Isabelle Delobel/Olivier Scheonfelder grabbed the first place with 39.57. Russians Oksana Domnina and Maksim Shabalin won second with 38.99.
"We are here to delight the audience, but not to a classification," said Denkova.
The original dance and free program will be held on Thursday and Friday.
