COC-M: Clemens Aigner unbeatable in Sapporo
Jan 20, 2019·Ski Jumping
Clemens Aigner also won the third Continental Cup competition in Sapporo (JPN) and so he stood on top of the podium in all three competitions on the Okurayama-hill this weekend.
The 25-year-old Austrian secured his third win in a row on Sunday with the best jumps in both rounds of 144 m and 138 m and 292.7 points. "All three jumps were good today. The conditions were again changing a bit, but I knew I'm jumping at a very high level right now. I'm happy that I could finish on top three times here in Sapporo", said the "Man of the Hour" in the COC.
The second place went to Norway's Robin Pedersen, who got closest to the current serial winner of Tyrol with 139 m and 134.5 m and 260.1 points. "It was a joy to jump here in these perfect conditions. It's wonderful to be in Sapporo and I want to thank the amazing volunteers", said the 22-year-old.
Best German on day 3 in Sapporo was again Martin Hamann. The athlete of the ski club Nickelhuette Aue could repeat his very good third place from Saturday with jumps of 136 m and 132 m and 255.3 points. "Today was similar to yesterday and so it was good. Yesterday my first jump was very good, today it was the second one. I want to thank the organizers here in Sapporo for the great days and congratulations to Clemens Aigner."
Ziga Jelar of Slovenia, second after the first round behind Aigner and ahead of Pedersen, came in fourth. For the former overall World Cup winner Severin Freund of Germany, the weekend ended with his best result in Sapporo. After finishing 13th and 20th on Friday and Saturday, he was fifth on Sunday.
In his fourth COC competition, Keiichi Sato achieved his first Top 10 result and was the best of the hosting team in sixth. Clemens Leitner of Austria was seventh, followed by Germany's Pius Paschke and Yumu Harada of Japan. The Top 10 today were completed by Germany's Felix Hoffmann.
After his three wins in Japan, Clemens Aigner leads the overall ranking with 513 points, Robin Pedersen (437 points) and Marius Lindvik (365 points) are second and third.
The next two competitions of the Continental Cup are held on January 26th and 27th in Planica (SLO).
