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First win in Sapporo since 2006 goes to Eric Frenzel
Nordic Combined superstar Eric Frenzel has claimed the first World Cup win in Sapporo, Japan since 2006. He crossed the finish line 5 seconds earlier than Jan Schmid from Norway who earned the silver rank. The third place went to teammate Haavard Klemetsen who finished 15.7 seconds after the winner.
Yoshito Watabe was in the lead after the jumping round on Sapporo’s Okurayama jumping hill. With 130 metres, he achieved 114.8 points and a 15-second head start on Austria’s Christoph Bieler who continues his strong jumping shape from before his injury in December. Bieler landed at 128 metres and with 111.1 points, he went out on the track 2 seconds ahead of third-placed Haavard Klemetsen who jumped 129.5 metres (110.6 p.).
The athletes to watch for today’s race definitely were Eric Frenzel and Bryan Fletcher. Both had strong jumps in the difficult, very snowy conditions. Frenzel jumped 122 metres at the end of the competition round which meant a time behind of +0:47 seconds only and an intermediate sixth place. Fast skier Fletcher landed at 126.5 metres which put him +0:57 seconds behind Watabe and in close proximity to Frenzel. Also in this group was seventh-ranked Austrian Bernhard Gruber with +0:54 seconds of time disadvantage.
The second fast group to watch was Mikko Kokslien and Björn Kircheisen who both had decent jumps of 114 and 117.5 metres which put them at +1:54 and +1:56 for the start of the race but with good chances on Sapporo’s very hard cross-country track. With it’s long uphills and in the difficult windy and snowy conditions, it promised to be a race for the toughest athletes with the best waxing teams.
Ski Jumping Results
The cross-country race was a „slow“ and heavy affair with Eric Frenzel needing 27:23.1 for the 10 kilometres in very snowy and windy conditions. The first 5 kilometres of the race, Yoshito Watabe managed to still hold the lead of the race. Behind him, a big pursuing group of about 10 athletes including Frenzel, Bryan Fletcher, Lukas Klapfer, Bernhard Gruber, Taihei Kato and Hideaki Nagai formed. Behind this bigger group, fast skiers Björn Kircheisen and Mikko Kokslien made up a lot of time as expected. Bryan Fletcher headed the leading group until Watabe was caught.
On the way out of the stadium, going into the last lap, Norwegian Jan Schmid made his attack on the long uphill with only Frenzel being able to follow him. The two tore open a gap of 10 seconds to the pursuers and went into the stadium as the undisputed winners of the race. In the last turn, Frenzel overtook Schmid who had nothing left to fight against the German.
Behind these two, Haavard Klemetsen prevailed and defended his podium result against Mikko Kokslien who ranked fourth in the end and, once more, was the fastest skier of the field again. The rest of the Top Ten ranks went to Johannes Rydzek, Lukas Klapfer, Taihei Kato, Bryan Fletcher and Bernhard Gruber. The best Japanese athlete was Yoshito Watabe on rank seven.
Yoshito Watabe was in the lead after the jumping round on Sapporo’s Okurayama jumping hill. With 130 metres, he achieved 114.8 points and a 15-second head start on Austria’s Christoph Bieler who continues his strong jumping shape from before his injury in December. Bieler landed at 128 metres and with 111.1 points, he went out on the track 2 seconds ahead of third-placed Haavard Klemetsen who jumped 129.5 metres (110.6 p.).
The athletes to watch for today’s race definitely were Eric Frenzel and Bryan Fletcher. Both had strong jumps in the difficult, very snowy conditions. Frenzel jumped 122 metres at the end of the competition round which meant a time behind of +0:47 seconds only and an intermediate sixth place. Fast skier Fletcher landed at 126.5 metres which put him +0:57 seconds behind Watabe and in close proximity to Frenzel. Also in this group was seventh-ranked Austrian Bernhard Gruber with +0:54 seconds of time disadvantage.
The second fast group to watch was Mikko Kokslien and Björn Kircheisen who both had decent jumps of 114 and 117.5 metres which put them at +1:54 and +1:56 for the start of the race but with good chances on Sapporo’s very hard cross-country track. With it’s long uphills and in the difficult windy and snowy conditions, it promised to be a race for the toughest athletes with the best waxing teams.
Ski Jumping Results
The cross-country race was a „slow“ and heavy affair with Eric Frenzel needing 27:23.1 for the 10 kilometres in very snowy and windy conditions. The first 5 kilometres of the race, Yoshito Watabe managed to still hold the lead of the race. Behind him, a big pursuing group of about 10 athletes including Frenzel, Bryan Fletcher, Lukas Klapfer, Bernhard Gruber, Taihei Kato and Hideaki Nagai formed. Behind this bigger group, fast skiers Björn Kircheisen and Mikko Kokslien made up a lot of time as expected. Bryan Fletcher headed the leading group until Watabe was caught.
On the way out of the stadium, going into the last lap, Norwegian Jan Schmid made his attack on the long uphill with only Frenzel being able to follow him. The two tore open a gap of 10 seconds to the pursuers and went into the stadium as the undisputed winners of the race. In the last turn, Frenzel overtook Schmid who had nothing left to fight against the German.
Behind these two, Haavard Klemetsen prevailed and defended his podium result against Mikko Kokslien who ranked fourth in the end and, once more, was the fastest skier of the field again. The rest of the Top Ten ranks went to Johannes Rydzek, Lukas Klapfer, Taihei Kato, Bryan Fletcher and Bernhard Gruber. The best Japanese athlete was Yoshito Watabe on rank seven.
Source: fis-ski.com
