Triesenberg (ck) After a slow season the Polish double Andrzej Laszczak/Damian Waniczek found its way back on top of the winning post. “We have had a lot of minor problems which summed up in bad results. We have not changed anything particular, but we are back where we have been two years ago”, they commented their first victory in this season. They won the race by a winning margin of nearly one second, even though they said that they had their best runs during the training. “We like the track and we like parallel events”, they said.
The cousins Wolfgang and Andreas Schopf (AUT) were the only ones who had a realistic chance against Laszczak/Waniczek, but they had a mistake in their first final run and so had to settle for the second place. “It was exactly this mistake which put us behind the Polish. Afterwards it is difficult to say what happened or whose fault it was. The track was a bit bumpy already after so many runs and suddenly we hit the wall.” But altogether the Austrians were satisfied about the outcome of the World Cup race: “For us it was important to catch up some points in the Overall World Cup. Now we are 20 points behind the Russians.” The leading couple Pawel Porschnev/Ivan Lazarev finished third in Liechtenstein after they won their “small final” race against Günther and Alex Innerbichler from Italy.
The women´s event was started with the qualification run and the first head-to-head run, but everything is still open as far as the fight for the Overall World Cup is concerned. The strongest contenders Ekatharina Lavrentjeva (RUS) and Renate Kasslatter (ITA) won their races without any problems. In the quarter final they will meet Anna Braun (AUT) rsp. Sandra Mariner (AUT).
The men´s races will be started today, Saturday, at 4pm with the qualification run. The best 16 will go into the head-to-head decisions.
Results of Friday:
Final Results Doubleseaters (12):
1. Andrzej Laszczak/Damian Waniczek (POL)
2. Wolfgang Schopf/Andreas Schopf (AUT)
3. Pawel Porschnev/Ivan Lazarev (RUS)
4. Günther Innerbichler/Alex Innerbichler (ITA)
5. Reinhard Beer/Herbert Kögl (AUT)
6. Armin Mair/Johannes Hofer (ITA)
7. Simone Deme/Michael Squinabol (ITA)
8. Mario Gortnar/Jure Potocnik (SLO)
9. Björn Kierspel/Hansjörg Mühlbacher (GER)
10. Kenan Suljagic/Armin Babic (BIH)
World Cup Standings (after five out of six races):
1. Pawel Porschnev/Ivan Lazarev (RUS) 415 points
2. Wolfgang Schopf/Andreas Schopf (AUT) 395
3. Andrzej Laszczak/Damian Waniczek (POL) 290
4. Armin Mair/Johannes Hofer (ITA) 275
5. Reinhard Beer/Herbert Kögl (AUT) 270
6. Harald Kleinhofer/Gerhard Mühlbacher (AUT) 247
7. Günther Innerbichler/Alex Innerbichler (ITA) 176
8. Björn Kierspel/Hansjörg Mühlbacher (GER) 164
9. Denis Alimov/Roman Molvistov (RUS) 109
10. Martin Graf/Harald Laimer (ITA) 84
11. Mario Gortnar/Jure Potocnik (SLO) 78
12. Petr Pulcar/Tomas Papiorek (CZE) 68
Head-to-head results First Round Women:
(winner bold)
Renate Gietl (ITA) – Belma Kamenias (BIH)
Julia Vetlova (RUS) – Michaela Maurer (GER)
Renate Kasslatter (ITA) – Christa Gietl (ITA)
Sandra Mariner (AUT) – Mateja Kralj (SLO)
Ekatharina Lavrentjeva (RUS) – Melissa Jones (CAN)
Karolina Waniczek (POL) – Anna Braun (AUT)
Tina Unterberger (AUT) – Ewelina Zurek (POL)
Barbara Abart (ITA) – Ursina Schneider (SUI)
Head-to-head runs Quaterfinal Women (start 6.40pm):
Renate Gietl (ITA) – Julia Vetlova (RUS)
Renate Kasslatter (ITA) – Sandra Mariner (AUT)
Ekatharina Lavrentkeva (RUS) – Anna Braun (AUT)
Ewelina Zurek (POL) – Barbara Abart (ITA)
