Seventh win in the eighth competition this season for Japanese Sara Takanashi in Zao (JPN). And Takanashi was so superior to the others, that she won although her hands touched the snow and she got very low judges' marks. 104 m - 110.8 points for Takanashi.
With very difficult conditions with constantly changing winds the first of two competitions in Zao (JPN) required patience from everyone involved, many interruptions were necessary. Finland's Susanna Forsstroem fell, but fortunately she didn't suffer any serious injuries.
Takanashi almost too good
Sara Takanashi was the last to jump in the first round. Before her jump the coach reduced the inrun length from gate 18 to 17, but still the Japanese took advantage of the head wind and jumped on outstanding 104 m (hill record set by Akira Higashi in 2003: 102.5 m). She touched the snow with her hands at the landing and so the judges' marks were only at 11.5.
But because of the distance it's still enough for Takanashi to win, to the joy of the many enthusiastic fans. The super star of ladies' ski jumping did it again. Her seventh win the eighth competition this season, outstanding! ”The wind conditions today were very bad. We had to wait long for our jumps and the gate was changed very often. It was a difficult round. My jump was good, but the landing was not. I need to work on that", Takanashi said after the competition.
The success of the Japanese on Satuday was completed by Takanashi's teammate Yuki Ito in second (96.5 m; 109.4 points), followed by Carina Vogt (GER) in third (93 m; 108.1 points). ”Today it was a very difficult competition due to the strong headwind and long waiting time before the jumps. I think that jury made the right decision to cancel the second round. I’m in a good shape and I will try to improve it even further before the Olympics in Sochi", told Vogt.
Maren Lundby of Norway was fourth, ahead of the surprisingly strong Ramona Straub of Germany, who already achieved good results in Chaikovsky with a ninth and 12th place.
The conditions then were even more difficult in the second round, so the jury decided to cancel the round after eight athletes and various breaks. So the results of the first round were the official results of hte competition.
Vogt surpasses Avvakumova
With 760 points, Sara Takanashi has a clear lead in the overall World Cup. Carina Vogt (466 points) is now second who could surpass Russian Avvakumova (435 points), who is not competing in Zao.
