Cousins finds his best form

Ice skating

Steven Cousins is lying third after the men's short programme at the European Figure Skating Championships in Sofia behind Ukraine's Viacheslav Zagorodniuk and the defending champion, Ilya Kulik of Russia.

Cousins' routine to the tune "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" was full of slinky moves to the slow sections of the music. His triple axel- triple toe loop combination was slightly flawed on the second landing but not enough to cost him dear.

Cousins, British champion for the past seven seasons, has been rising slowly but steadily up the ranks and yesterday's performance was one of his finest.