Devant son public, Ito a réussi un premier saut à 134 m, un second à 130, pour un total de 252,6 pts, et ne devance que de... 0,1 pt le Norvégien Anders Bardal (252,5). Le Polonais Kamil Stoch (247,2 pts) complète le podium.

Après 16 épreuves sur 27, Bardal s'empare de la deuxième place du classement général aux dépens de l'Autrichien Gregor Schlierenzauer, absent au Japon.

Un second concours est prévu dimanche à Sapporo.

Les réactions (source FIS) :

Daiki Ito (JPN): "Of course it’s always amazing to win, but winning a World Cup competition for the first time in front of my home crowd is simply incredible. I tried not to think about the possible victory, I just wanted to focus on my task and tried not to feel the pressure. The conditions are always difficult in Sapporo. It’s windy here and that’s what I feared the most.”
 
Anders Bardal (NOR): “Loosing by only 0.1 point and being so close to victory is annoying. But if it’s here in Japan against Ito then it’s okay. I hope that because of Daiki’s win there will be more spectators tomorrow. I also needed some time to wake up and get used to the hill. I felt much better today already in the trial round and both jumps in the competition were really good. I’m very satisfied.”
 
Kamil Stoch (POL): “I needed some time to rest after the trip and adjust to the time difference. That’s why I didn’t jump that well yesterday. Today I was able to show normal jumps and I had no problems with the inrun position or the flight. The trial round gave me confidence that I can jump well here and both jumps in the competition were really good. The hill is very special and the changing wind can make a major difference.”

  Classement du premier concours de Sapporo:
  1. Daiki Ito (JPN)                 252,6 pts (134,0 + 130,0)
  2. Anders Bardal (NOR)             252,5     (134,0 + 135,0)
  3. Kamil Stoch (POL)               247,2     (130,0 + 127,0)
  4. Vegard Haukoe Sklett (NOR)      246,1     (129,0 + 138,5)
  5. Roman Koudelka (CZE)            240,0     (130,0 + 130,0)
  ...
  9. Andreas Kofler (AUT)            228,7     (117,5 + 129,5)

  Classement général de la Coupe du monde après 16 épreuves sur 27:
  1. Andreas Kofler (AUT)           934 pts
  2. Anders Bardal (NOR)            889
  3. Gregor Schlierenzauer (AUT)    866
  4. Thomas Morgenstern (AUT)       745
  5. Kamil Stoch (POL)              660
  ...
  11. Simon Ammann (SUI)             307

Le classement complet ICI

Photo : Nordic Focus