Austrian women dominate team event in Zao
Jan 18, 2020·Ski Jumping
Austria, with Daniela Iraschko-Stolz, Marita Kramer, Chiara Hoelzl and Eva Pinkelnig, won the team competition in Zao (JPN). The second and third place on Saturday evening (local time) went to the teams of Japan and Norway.
As expected, the Austrians clearly dominated this season's first team event. The result, in the end, was more than clear: With 889.4 points, they had a lead of over 140 points over the second-placed Japanese team. An outstanding demonstration of the current strength of the Austrian team of head coach Harry Rodlauer. The best athlete of the team was Eva Pinkelnig, who won the competition on Friday and is also the top favorite for the third competition in Zao on Sunday.
Japan celebrates second place
Yuki Ito, Nozomi Maruyama, Sara Takanashi, and Yuka Seto came in second. The team of Sara Takanashi had to fight hard to finish ahead of the Norwegians. After eight jumps the team just had a lead of 0.4 points (Japan 749.0 points, Norway 748.6 points).
Maren Lundby improved
Olympic champion Maren Lundby could gain some self-confidence ahead this weekend's final competition on Sunday with her strong jumps of 96 m and 98 m. In training in the first competition on Friday, Lundby couldn't do well on the HS 102 hill in Zao, but after today's performance, Lundby has to be considered a contender for the podium. Norway came in third today, only the tiny margin of 0.4 points behind Japan.
Russians strong
Irma Makhinia, Lidiia Iakovleva, Sofia Tikhonova, and Irina Avvakumova showed a strong performance and finished fourth. A place on the podium was within reach for the Russian team.
Team Germany in poor shape
The German team is struggling so far in Zao, just like they have been during the entire winter. Juliane Seyfarth, Selina Freitag, Agnes Reisch, and Katharina Althaus came in sixth. The team of head coach Andreas Bauer was almost 50 points behind Slovenia. The team is clearly missing the two injured athletes, Carina Vogt and Ramona Straub.
Poland scores
The result wasn't that important for the team of Poland today. What mattered most was the fact that the team of head coach Lukasz Kruczek did compete in today's team event. Lead by Kinga Rajda the team came in eighth and scored 50 World Cup points.
The third competition in Zao, an individual event, starts on Sunday at 8 am CET (qualification at 6:45 am).
