The second sprint race of the weekend was held today at the IBU Junior Cup 2022 Pokljuka. The Slovenian biathlon venue jumped in after the races in Hochfilzen were cancelled due to tightened Covid19 restrictions in Austria. On the second competition day, Russian Aleksandr Kornev and Czech Tereza Jandova reached the top positions in their respective events.
Aleksander Kornev was the best in sprint junior men event number two in Pokljuka. 20-year-old Russian biathlete missed only one shot in the first shooting and was also fast in the track which brought him the highest podium position. This is his best result of the IBU Junior Cup series this season, after he finished second in sprint in Pokljuka on Thursday and was also on the podium of Super Sprint Final in Martell. The good results of this season brought him the current number one position in Junior Cup.
“The race went very well. It was a bit tough on the track but I am very glad I managed to shoot well. I had a mistake at the first shooting but overall, I am satisfied with the competition and the atmosphere here. It is a wonderful day today,” said the Russian Kornev for the IBU.
Jonas Marecek from Czech Republic was second today, after missing two shots, one in each shooting. He was 26.5 seconds behind the winner. The Russian Czech duo exchanged the positions from Thursday, as Marecek took the highest podium position in the first race of the weekend here in Pokljuka.
The third place went to German biathlete Darius Lodl, who missed one shot and was 46.1 seconds behind.
In women’s junior sprint Tereza Jandova from Czech Republic excelled at a shooting and covered all the targets which brought her the final win. She was 2.8 seconds faster than Italian Sara Scattolo who missed twice and finished second. Both Jandova and Scattolo were already at a podium this season in Martell, and Scatollo is currently in the lead of the Junior Cup.
Third place went to German Johanna Puff, who was just outside of the podium on fourth position this Thursday.
After the win Jandova said, “I am so happy with my first win. I did not expect it. I am so happy with ‘zero’. Our skis were so good, so thank you to our coaches and servicemen.”
The best Slovenian today was Jaša Zidar who was 20th in junior men’s event. Matic Repnik was 25th, Pavel Trojer 33rd, Matic Bradeško 67th, Jaka Kračman 68th, Tadej Repnik 76th and Gašper Ožbolt 79th. In women’s part of the competition Kaja Marič took the 37th place, Viktorija Mežnar was 40th, Teja Zadravec 43rd, Zala Repe 47th, Katjuša Slodej 54th and Nina Pogačnik 61st.
On Sunday, the IBU Junior Cup continues with single mixed relay at 10:30 and mixed relay at 14:00.
