Kemp and King repeat Olympic result to finish 16th in Turin

STACEY Kemp and David King left themselves with plenty to think about over the off-season as they maintained their 16th position after the free skate at the World Figure Skating Championships in Turin.

SLOW PROGRESS: Stacey Kemp and David King repeat their result from the Winter Olympics in Vancouver to finish 16th at the World Championships in Turin (Getty Images)

 

The five-time British champions were lucky to make the second day in Italy, scraping through in 16th after a botched throw in the short program.

And while there were signs of improvement in Wednesday's free skate, the pair once again suffered a penalty deduction and failed to match their season's best of 92.03 from January's European Championships.

Instead, they scored 87.73 to take their overall tally to 132.87 and finish 16th, 5.39 down on Poland's Joanna Sulej and Mateusz  Chruscinski in 15th.

The British duo still have time on their side with Kemp still just 21 years old and King four years her senior.

But after also finishing 16th on their Winter Olympic debut in Vancouver, they will be disappointed not to have improved among a weaker field in Turin, especially having finished 13th in last season's World Championships.

And having also failed to top their best result at this year's European Championships in Tallinn, they will be desperate to make more progress on the international rankings next season.

China's Pang Qing and Tong Jian held on to their overnight lead to lift the title in Copenhagen, upgrading from their Olympic silver in Vancouver.