British ice dance siblings fifth in Euros

British duo Sinead and John Kerr placed fifth at the European Championships after a disappointing free dance.

The Scottish siblings, who won bronze at last year's Europeans, scored 90.24 points in their final routine having struggled with minor errors.

World champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia claimed gold in Tallinn, ahead of Italian pair Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali.

The European Championships are the last major event before the Winter Olympics.

The Kerrs recently became the first Britons to reach skating's Grand Prix final, but Saturday's result in Estonia was not enough for them break into the medals.

"I love to watch them - it's aggressive, it's great," said BBC Sport commentator Robin Cousins after the routine, set to the music of American rock band Linkin Park.

"But musically it's tough to connect with it, they're a bit disconnected from each other. It didn't quite hit the mark for me today, and we know it didn't hit for them."

Coomes/Buckland make solid debut

Domnina and Shabalin finished second in the free dance, the last of the three events which form the ice dance category, which proved enough to claim gold.

The pair were unable to defend their European title last year after Shabalin injured his knee during the compulsory dance, and they missed this year's Grand Prix season because of the recurring problem.

Britain's other representatives, Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland, earned 70.30 points in the free dance to finish 16th overall with 145.91 points in total. The Kerrs registered an overall score of 184.05 points while Domnina and Shabalin posted a winning tally of 199.25.

Coomes, Buckland and the Kerrs will all represent Great Britain at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, which begin on 12 February.

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