PHOTO: Bildbyrån
The Swedish men’s biathlon team received a nightmarish WC rep today.
Trainer icon Wolfgang Pichler is now stepping forward with a serious sawing.
– It was unimaginably bad, says the former national team captain to Sportbladet.
The World Cup in Ruhpolding will be the very last one before the Biathlon World Cup and it is time for our Swedish biathletes to sharpen their form. The women’s relay team really impressed on Wednesday by coming second, without the star Hanna Öberg in the team.
Sweden’s fiasco
But when it was time for the men on Thursday, it was a real failure. Emil Nykvist who started on the first leg, were forced to use all the extra shots in the standing shooting in order to avoid the penalty round.
– I had to put all the extra shots. I was too tired to ride penalty laps. I must apologize. I did my best, says a disappointed Nykvist in the SVT broadcast.
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After that, it got even worse for the experienced Jesper Nelin who shot away and needed to ride two penalty rounds. Which meant that Sweden was down to a miserable 20th place after half the race.
– It is deplorable. I don’t understand why I’m missing, which is frustrating. I can’t explain it. It’s just to forget this crap and move on, says a distressed Nelin about his effort.
– He wants to get closer to the lead and then it will be a disaster series, notes the shooting coach Jean-Marc Chabloz in the broadcast.
Pichler’s criticism
Martin Ponsiluoma managed to go up Sweden to a tenth place and then could Sebastian Samuelsson finish with absolutely flawless shooting to ride into final eighth place in the relay. But this blue-yellow effort worries a lot ahead of the Biathlon World Cup.
– It was really surprisingly weak, says the SVT expert Bjorn Ferry in a clear criticism.
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Sweden’s former national team captain Wolfgang Pichler was on site in Ruhpolding and saw the entire competition. And he is not gracious in his big sawing of the Swedish relay team.
– Disaster. The shooting was unbelievably bad. It’s easy conditions and the pressure is what’s tough. But it was bad, says the coaching icon to Sportbladet.
READ MORE: Wolfgang Pichler’s adamant words about Stina Nilsson as a biathlete – condemn the Swede completely: “It’s that simple”
Pichler had expected more from the men’s national team in the WC general rep.
– They train so much here, so they should know the dike. But it was the other way around, he tells the evening newspaper.
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