MOSCOW, January 21 (R-Sport) - Maxim Trankov will defend his pairs title at this week's European figure skating championships in Zagreb despite the death of the Russian star's father, an official told R-Sport on Monday.
Trankov won last year's title in Sheffield with partner Tatiana Volosozhar but his participation this year was thrown into doubt on Sunday when his father, Leonid, died at the age of 62.
"Maxim Trankov's decision to go to the European championships is a courageous move," said the general director of the Russian figure skating federation Valentin Piseev.
Trankov and Volosozhar are favorites to retain their title after surging through the 2012-13 season unbeaten, winning two Grand Prix events and the final itself in Sochi last month.
They hit unexpected trouble on Monday, however, when their plane to the Croatian capital was forced to land in Budapest due to bad weather in Zagreb.
Fellow skaters Adelina Sotnikova and Maxim Kovtun were also on board.
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