Japan dominate ladies' team jumping on home snow
BySportsbeat
Updated 20/01/2018 at 15:10 GMT
Japan ensured home snow was to play a major advantage after taking ladies' ski jumping team World Cup honours in Zao less than a month from the Olympic Winter Games.
Sara Takanashi of Japan
Image credit: Reuters
Sara Takanashi shone with efforts of 93m and 89m, but it was Yuki Ito who was flying high with her after 89.5m and 95m jumps in the familiar location.
That, coupled with solid performances from Yuka Seto and Kaori Iwabuchi, showed why Japan are the force to be reckoned with, totalling 761.7 points to take their place atop the podium.
"It is very important to win for our fans here in Zao. My jumps are getting better, but I still have some work to do," said Yuki.
The Slovenian team of Nika Kriznar, Ema Klinec, Spela Rogelj and Ursa Bogataj scored 706.8 points and came in a well-deserved second place, with Kriznar in particular impressing with a pair of 91.5m jumps.
And third went to Irina Avvakumova, Sofia Tikhonova, Alexandra Kustova and Anastasiya Barannikova of Russia, with consistency the name of their game in Zao as Germany narrowly missed out on the medals.
Tikhonova said: "It is a very crucial result to be on the podium one month before the Olympics because we got an important competition experience and a winning experience.
"Personally, I expected to jump better in this event, but the whole team did a great job."
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