Watabes lead PCR result list in Lahti
Feb 08, 2019·Nordic Combined
Yoshito and Akito Watabe were the two athletes to beat in the Provisional Competition Round in Lahti on Friday with the brothers only separated by 0.1 points in the final result list. 127.5 metres and a total of 129.9 points carried Yoshito Watabe to the victory, while his brother Akito also showed 127.5 metres and amassed 129.8 points. Austria’s Mario Seidl came in on the third position with his 124 metre jump. 122.7 points meant a 29-second delay for Seidl should the PCR be used in case of adverse weather conditions on Saturday or Sunday.
With only Japanese and Austrian athletes in the Top 8, also Wilhelm Denifl, Hideaki Nagai, Bernhard Gruber, Johannes Lamparter and Go Yamamoto could be satisfied with their performances. Fourth-ranking Denifl had a delay of 41 seconds on leader Yoshito Watabe while Go Yamamoto had to make up one minute and 10 seconds. Junior World Champion Julian Schmid from Germany and Switzerland’s Tim Hug also entered the Top Ten with jumps of 116.5 and 115 metres and started with delays of one minute and 27 and 30 seconds respectively.
Polish jumping expert Szczepan Kupczak struggled a little more with the hill in Lahti and only achieved rank 13. Local heroes Arttu Mäkiaho, Leevi Mutru and Eero Hirvonen ranked eleventh, fifteenth and seventeenth. Teammate Ilkka Herola and Norway’s Espen Bjørnstad were unlucky with the wind conditions during their jump with sudden gusts of wind destroying their chances for a good result. Best Norwegian jumper was strong COC athlete Leif Torbjørn Næsvold on rank 14.
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