Yukiya Sato with strong first day in Zakopane
Jan 15, 2021·Ski Jumping
Japan's Yukiya Sato won the qualification in Zakopane on Friday evening. Sato posted a jump of 133 m (139.8 points) and took the top spot ahead of Markus Eisenbichler (132 m; 137.0 points) and local hero Andrzej Stekala (130 m; 135.8 points).
In freezing temperatures, Sato had already proven in training that he can jump extremely well on the Wielka Krokiew hill in Zakopane. After today's performance, Sato is now among the top favorites for the individual competition on Sunday. The first competition in Zakopane will be a team event on Saturday.
Besides Sato, also Markus Eisenbichler presented himself in top shape in the qualification. He was satisfied with his jump of 132 m: "This was stable today, that's the start I wanted here. In the team event tomorrow we want to finish on top of the podium, but, of course, we also know that the competition is very strong." Severin Freund, Pius Paschke, Karl Geiger, and Markus Eisenbichler will be on the German team tomorrow.
World Cup leader Halvor Egner Granerud had a very bad day today. The Norwegian didn't have one good jump all day and finished only 43rd in the qualification with 117 m. He made the cut for the competition, but questions remain for Granerud, who has already won six World Cups this winter.
Gregor Schlierenzauer replaced Stefan Kraft on the Austrian team for this weekend. After his corona infection and back problems, Kraft is taking a break to recharge the batteries. With his 39th place in today's qualification, Schlierenzauer didn't make the team for Saturday's competition. Austria will be represented by Michael Hayboeck, Jan Hoerl, Philipp Aschenwald, and Daniel Huber.
The World Cup in Zakopane is one of the highlights of the season for the ski jumpers, the atmosphere with usually more than 20000 fans in the stadium is legendary. This year, no spectators are allowed at the hill in Poland, so what remains is a spectacular sporting event without any fans on site.
Saturday's team competition will start at 4:15 pm CET.
