COC-M: Two Slovenes on top

On Saturday evening the strong Slovenian team couldn't beat the Polish youngster Tomasz Pilch, on Sunday they fought back and took a 1-2 finish in the Continental Cup in Ruka (FIN).

After Jurij Tepes wasn't able to defeat his lead after the first round yesterday and came in fourth overall, he did better on Sunday. With 135 m, the 28-year-old again had the half-time lead and this time he secured his second win in the Continental Cup with a 135.5 m jump in the final and a total of 269.1 points.

Ziga Jelar, who was already third this season in Whistler (CAN) and on the first day in Ruka, presented himself in a strong shape again and with 133.5 m and 138 m (267.9 points) he came in a close second behind his teammate and achieved the best result of his career so far.

Norway's Joachim Hauer, 16th on the day before, could significantly improve his performance and took his first podium finish this season with jumps of 129.5 m and 142 m and 258.6 points.

Also Markus Schiffner of Austria jumped a lot better on day 2 in Ruka and finished fourth. He was followed by Cestmir Kozisek of the Czech Republic (5th) and his teammate Florian Altenburger (6th), who was en route to the podium after the first round when he was third behind Tepes and Jelar.

The up-and-comer of the first two weekends in the COC, Tomasz Pilch of Poland, was only 18th after the first jump today and moved up to seventh overall with the longest jump of the competition of 143 m in the final. With a first and a seventh place, the 17-year-old repeated his results from Whistler last weekend in Ruka.

With Nejc Dezman and Andraz Pograjc in eighth and tenth, Slovenia again had four athletes among the best ten. Thomas Lackner was ninth and completed the good team result for the Austrians.

Tomasz Pilch leads the overall ranking with 272 points. Ziga Jelar (224 points) and Nejc Dezman (177 points) follow in second and third.

The Continental Cup continues right after Christmas with two competitions in Engelberg on December 27th and 28th.