COC-M: Austrian sweep in Bischofshofen
Jan 11, 2020·Ski Jumping
After a break of almost four weeks due to the cancellations in Engelberg and Titisee-Neustadt, the first Continental Cup event of the year is taking place in Bischofshofen (AUT) this weekend.
The first competition on Saturday evening ended with the total success of the hosts from Austria. Clemens Leitner, Stefan Huber, and Clemens Aigner claimed the first three spots for Austria on the Paul-Ausserleitner-hill.
Clemens Leitner, who proved his very good shape this winter already with the second and third place in Ruka last December, was the best in both rounds today with jumps of 133 m and 135.5 m and celebrated his first-ever win in the COC with a total of 287.6 points.
Stefan Huber posted jumps of 131 m and 130 m and came in second with 273.3 points. The third place on the HS 142 in Salzburg went to Clemens Aigner with 129 m and 131.5 m and 272.6 points.
Besides the Top 3, Markus Schiffner, Peter Resinger, for whom this was the first competition in the Continental Cup, and Stefan Rainer completed the outstanding team result of the local heroes in eighth, ninth and 12th.
Not only the Austrians but also the team of Poland showed an extremely strong performance this evening. With Aleksander Zniszczol (4th), Andrzej Stekala (5th) and Klemens Muranka (6th) three Poles were among the best today.
With Ziga Jelar in seventh and Jurij Tepes in ninth (tied with Peter Resinger) two Slovenes were also in the Top 10 in Bischofshofen.
Ski Jumping legend Noriaki Kasai is also competing in the COC this weekend, but the 47-year-old was only 37th and failed to make the cut for the final round.
Taku Takeuchi, 17th today, leads the overall ranking of the COC with 339 points, followed by Clemens Leitner (320 points) and Keiichi Sato (276 points).
The second competition in Bischofshofen starts on Sunday at 10 am CET.
)
