MILAN - Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara placed fifth in the pairs figure skating short program Sunday at the Milan Cortina Olympics and will head into the free skate 6.90 points off the lead.

The world champion pair earned 73.11 points after some mishaps in their opening segment at Milano Ice Skating Arena, with Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin finishing on top.

Related coverage: