Ice Dancing: Kerrs begin Euro short dance

Murrayfield ice dancers John and Sinead Kerr were today beginning their medal challenge in the Short Dance at the European Figure Skating Championships in Bern.

The brother and sister pairing were bronze medallists in Helsinki in 2009 and are raring to go following Sinead's recovery from a shoulder injury suffered in November which ruled them out of competitions in Russia and China and cost them the chance of an eighth British title. "This may be our last European Championships, so we are aiming to make it our most memorable," said John.

Their main rivals in a wide open event (which has a $US30,000 first prize and concludes with Friday's Free Dance) are likely to be 2010 runners-up Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali of Italy and French duo Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat.