Taku Takeuchi celebrates first win
Strong head wind and gusts that were difficult to control caused various breaks in the first round, that was then finally the only round today. So after he finished seventh yesterday, Taku Takeuchi could capture the win today with a jump on 129 m and 117.4 points. "The wind conditions today were really unstable and difficult but it's not good if you think about that too much. I just focused on my jump and that worked. Of course I'm very happy now, because this is my first win", said Takeuchi.
The results of Taku Takeuchi »
Also Saturday's winner Jurij Tepes was very satisfied with his result. "“We had to wait a lot today, but it was a good competition for me. I'm very happy because I remained calm and did well in this one jump. That was very important. I didn't have any problems with the wind conditions, the jury did a good job. It wasn't difficult for me", the Slovene told after his jump on 131.5 m (115.0 points). The Slovenian jumpers showed a great team performance, besides Tepes three more could finish in the Top 10.
Anders Bardal was the third Norwegian who stood on the podium during the days in Almaty. After Anders Fannemel and Tom Hilde the day before, now last season's overall World Cup winner achieved a top result as third and was happy about his improved shape. "It was a long round with a lot of waiting and changing conditions. You needed a bit of luck today to succeed. The summer has never really been my time of year for ski jumping but results like this give me self confidence for before the winter." It was not such a good day for his teammates. While Tom Hilde came in 15th, Anders Fannemel was disqualified because his suit didn't meet the requirements.
Andreas Wank remains in the lead of the overall Grand Prix ranking with 409 points. After his two podium results in Almaty, Jurij Tepes is now second, follwed by Simon Ammann as third. With 140 m Ammann showed the longest jump of the competition today, but he fell at the landing and so it doesn't count as a new hill record and he finished only 18th.
The Summer Grand Prix continues next weekend in Hinzenbach (AUT) with an individual competition, before this summer's series ends three days later in Klingenthal.