Pokljuka - Rudno polje - 19.12.2009 Russian day in Pokljuka Thirteenth place was in today's sprint trials reserved for the best Slovenian competitors. After Teia Gregorin the same place was occupied by Klemen Bauer. He gained his highest rang in the World Cup with another great cross-country skiing performance, he has also done well on the shooting range: "As far as atmosphere is concerned, it was a beautiful race. I also knew that I could do well in difficult conditions. I have reconciled with them even before the start, so I enjoyed the track. I found out about the wind conditions at zeroing and my reaction was correct at the first stop at the shooting range. In the standing position I had some bad luck, so I will have to add some more in the next races.” Maybe he can do that already tomorrow, when both men and women will compete in pursuit race. There will be two more Slovenians on the start of tomorrow’s race, Vasja Rupnik and Janez Marič. Rupnik made only two shooting mistakes, but had more difficulties in the cross-country course. He finished in 37th place and won World Cup points for the first time in his career: "I am very pleased with my shooting, the running part wasn’t bad either, even though each meter is very difficult with the wrong choice of skis. I'm tired, this was the hardest race ever.” Marič missed five shots and finished in 58th place: "I am very disappointed because I expected much more. Although I have been competing in the World Cup for some time already, I can’t perform well on the shooting range in windy conditions." Moreover, the Slovenian guys highly praised Pokljuka audience. Slovenian trio will have a loud supporter in Peter Dokl tomorrow. He finished in 77th place today and unfortunately can’t compete in the pursuit race: "Fortunately, I have showed good form at least on the shooting range. I missed only once. In the course I can’t achieve the level as high as I would like. I hope my skiing for will be better after the holidays. The reason for the poor performance is certainly not a lack of training, because I'm always working hard. " Head coach of men’s team Uroš Velepec was much more pleased with his competitors than on Thursday: "I have some reasons for satisfaction. Bauer showed a beautiful result, Vasja was also good. He shot excellently but had some bad luck with skis. He can do much better in the course. " Double victory for the Russian women's tandem apparently also gave wings to their compatriot Ivan Čerezov. He won his fourth race in his career. 29-year-old Russian was very accurate on the shooting range, he cleared all ten targets, and proved his resilience in the difficult wind and snow conditions on the track: "Conditions were very difficult both on track and shooting range, but I was quite lucky with the wind. A good shooting performance gave me a lot of self-confidence and I’m getting better in every race. " Čerezov was the first and at the end the last to finish in front of Austrian Dominic Landertinger. Young biathlete will start the pursuit race tomorrow 11,1 seconds behind the Russian. He was very pleased with his second place: “I had some cold on Thursday so I decided not to race. But I had more time to prepare for today’s sprint. I had very fast skis and I’m really pleased that I completed Austrian success after Sumann’s win on Thursday. " Third was Swiss Thomas Grei, who will certainly keep Pokljuka in the most beautiful memory. This is his first time on the podium in his career: »You always need a little luck fo a good result. And I had it today.« Pokljuka will host pursuit races tomorrow. Women will start at 12, men at 14:15.

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