World team champion Thomas Morgenstern of Austria posted his second win in two days with victory in the two-race Sapporo series of the World Cup ski jumping large hill competition yesterday.
Janne Happonen of Finland, who was second on Saturday, took the same place again, followed by Anders Bardal of Norway in third.
The 21-year-old Morgenstern, who won the team gold and the individual normal hill bronze in the world championships here last year, recorded the longest jump of 139m for 288.7 points and victory.
PHOTO: EPA
"It feels great. I'm satisfied with my first jump despite strong winds," said Morgenstern, who marked 135m in the first jump. "I'm also satisfied with my second jump as it was close to the limit."
It was the Austrian's ninth World Cup win this season and the 10th in his career, including one team title last season.
Morgenstern stretched his lead in the overall rankings to 1,455 points, ahead of Janne Ahonen of Finland on 845 points, Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria on 839 points and Tom Hilde of Norway on 825 points.
Happonen, also the runner-up in the opener at Kuusamo in December, jumped 134m for 272.5 points, while Bardal marked 131.5m for 264.3 points.
It was the 19th leg of the 28-round World Cup series.
■ WOMEN'S SUPER-G
AFP, SAINT-MORITZ, SWITZERLAND
Canadian Emily Brydon won her maiden World Cup title yesterday, scorching the Super-G ahead of Austrian duo Elisabeth Goergl and Renate Goetschl.
Brydon came home in 1 minute, 17.39 seconds, 0.25 seconds ahead of Goergl, with Goetschl a further 0.04 seconds adrift. Overall World Cup leader Nicole Hop of Austria finished in sixth place for some more valuable points.
The 27-year-old Canadian previously finished second in the World Cup Super-G rescheduled to the same Corvaglia piste here from the French resort of Val d'Isere in December.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two