Little surprise at the training for the FIS Ladies' Grand Prix in Almaty: In two out of three rounds, Yuki Ito came in ahead of her Japanese teammate Sara Takanashi.

After Grand Prix overall leader Takanashi won the first round with 93.5 m and Ito finished second with a jump on the same distance, Ito was the best in the following two training rounds.

She jumped on 95 m and 100.5 m. Takanashi was second with 92.5 m and 98 m, but she started from a lower gate then the other athletes.

Summer in Kazakhstan

Under summer temperatures of 30° C and only slight winds, a qualification was not held again, because only 27 athletes participated. Like already last weekend, Norway's Line Jahr was in a very good shape again. Her longest jump was on 98 m and she finished third twice. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger, one of two Austrians in the field, had her best jump with 94.5 m and was fourth twice.

US American Nita Englund showed a good performance especially in the second round with 97.5 m and a third place, Spela Rogelj and Ursa Bogataj were the best of the Slovenian team in fifth and sixth. Russia's Sofya Tikhonova can also hope for a good result in the competition, she was seventh twice and ninth once.

The first individual competition in Kazakhstan will take place on Saturday at 11:00 am CET.

Source: fis-ski.com