Maastohiihdon Suomen Cup

Ristomatti Hakola and Anne Kyllönen celebrated their victory in the free sprint in Vuokatti, where the ninth season of the Finnish Cup started on Saturday. The champions of the day shared the podium with familiar names: Juho Mikkonen took the second place in the male category and Iivo Niskanen in third place, Laura Mononen was second in women and Vilma Nissinen was third.

Both Hakola and Kyllönen were also the fastest qualifiers.

"I am most pleased qualifying and finals of skiing, they proceeded according to plan and there was a special weight on this day. In the finals, I did a little bit at the beginning to see what other people were doing, because with Laura (Mononen), for example, I couldn't ski at all, so I didn't really know how hard she was going. I ducked into the bow and decided to keep up the pace. As far as I was able to finish," Kyllönen said cheerfully.

A woman from the Kainuu Ski Club has a good seam on top positions also on Sunday, as the club has a strong message team. The same is true of Jämin Jänteen Ristomatti Hakola, who opened the season with a win after a challenging training session.

"It went well in the qualifying. There was a marked spot in the batches to bring that ascent, and in the finals, the marked spot did not leave as casually. That was the amount of pinching of the rod. But good day. Once it has been difficult, it is now quite a sweet feeling. Yes, there were already tough class horses in the finals," Hakola said.

The Finnish Cup has traditionally provided young skiers with a good opportunity to challenge their more experienced skiers. This time Tiia Olkkonen (4th), Anita Korva (6th) and Miska Poikkimäki (6th) made their way to the finals from the young under-23s Vilma Nissinen. On Sunday, Vuokatti's Finnish Cup will skip the first posts of the season.

Find all results here.