Teenager jumps to maiden victory

Jaka Hvala clinched his maiden win in World Cup ski jumping in the large hill event at Klingenthal in Germany. The 19-year-olds previous best finish on the World Cup circuit was a fifth place in Engleberg last December but he easily surpassed that with two outstanding jumps. He scored 259.5 points to become the youngest man to win a World Cup event since Gregor Schlierenzauer’s victory at Planica in 2009. He set the bar for his competitors with his first jump of 142.5 meters. And it took a personal best finish to get close to the teenage victor. Taku Takeuchi was second. The Japanese jumper scored 254.6 points recording jumps of 133.5 meters and 130.5. Austrian Gregor Schlierenzauer had to be content with third. It was the Austrian’s 78th World Cup podium finish and it means he further extended his lead at the top of the overall World Cup standings as nearest challenger Anders Bardal could only manage 22nd. Schlierenzauer has now amassed 1260 points, Bardel is second with 766.