Hvala nails first World Cup victory

KLINGENTHAL, Germany (AFP) –

Slovania’s Jaka Hvala competes in the Ski Jumping World Cup in Klingenthal, eastern Germany on February 13, 2013. Hvala won the event ahead of Japan’s Taku Takeuchi (2nd) and Austria’s Gregor Schlierenzauer (3rd).

Slovenia’s Jaka Hvala on Wednesday won his first World Cup ski-jumping event in what was the penultimate stop before the world championships.

The 20-year-old, who was part of the Slovenian team that won last week at Willingen, took advantage of a massive first leap of 142.4 metres before sealing victory with a solid second jump to finish 4.9 points ahead of Japan’s Taku Takeuchi.

World Cup leader Gregor Schlierenzauer was third, a further 1.5 points back.

Austria’s Schlierenzauer is the runaway leader in the overall standings and set a new record of 48 World Cup victories with a double win at Harrachov 10 days ago.

The Four Hills champion extended his lead in the race for World Cup glory to 494 points ahead of Norwegian Anders Bardel who could only manage 22nd at Klingenthal on Wednesday.

The circuit continues in Germany with two events scheduled for Oberstdorf this weekend and the final event before the world championships which begin on February 20 at Val di Fiemme, Italy.