COC-M: 1-2 finish for Poland in Chaikovsky
Mar 23, 2019·Ski Jumping
The last weekend of the 2018/19 season in Chaikovsky (RUS) couldn't have started any better for the Polish team.
Aleksander Zniszczol, who was already in the lead after the first round, won the competition on Saturday evening with jumps of 101 and 101.5 m and 249.8 points. The 25-year-old could celebrate his second win in a row after he was already the best in front of his home crowd in Zakopane a week ago.
"I am very happy about my second COC victory in the row. I made two really good jumps today. Hopefully, we will be able to jump on the big hill tomorrow and the conditions will be fair for everybody and we will just be able to enjoy it", said the winner.
Zniszczol's teammate Andrzej Stekala jumped on 98.5 m and 99 m on the HS 102 normal hill and came in second with 248.1 points. This was his first podium finish in the COC since December 2015. "I am very happy with my first COC podium this season. It was a bit windy, but anyway, the conditions were pretty good for everyone. To be honest, I was quite happy that the competition was rescheduled to the normal hill, as we had two training jumps yesterday already, I always did better on the smaller hill here in Chaikovsky", said Stekala.
The third place went to Norway's Andreas Granerud Buskum with jumps of 97 m and 97.5 m and 239.6 points. "I am very happy about my fourth COC podium this winter. Now I hope for some more good jumps tomorrow. I would love to get my first victory tomorrow here on the big hill", the Norwegian said after the competition.
The best German in this competition was Felix Hoffmann in fourth, followed by Ulrich Wohlgenannt of Austria (5th) and Czech Viktor Polasek in sixth.
Pawel Wasek completed the great team result of Poland with his seventh place. Slovenia's Zak Mogel and Germany's Justin Lisso, who was third after the first half of the competition, tied for eighth.
Local hero Roman Trofimov also achieved a very good result in tenth.
Clemens Aigner of Austria, who is not competing in Russia, secured the overall title of the 2018/19 Continental Cup with 977 points. Marius Lindvik (863 points) and Aleksander Zniszczol (795 points) follow in second and third.
The second competition in Chaikovsky starts on Sunday at 7:30 am CET.
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