Sebastian Samuelsson is fighting to become the first Swedish male wrestler among the top three in the World Cup since Mikael Löfgren won the 1992-1993 season.
Ahead of today's sprint in Estonian Otepää, the Swede was in third place in the overall standings, over 200 points from the superior leader Quentin Fillon Maillet but with second Emilien Jacquelin within reach.
That distance has now decreased, not to Fillon Maillet who won the competition, but at least to Jacquelin who shot a full four booms.
He also missed Samuelsson, but only two shots, one in the horizontal shot and one in the vertical.
- It was a boom too much.
The ride felt pretty good but I'm a bit halfway behind anyway, do not know what it's due to, says Samuelsson.
From behind, the Norwegians Vetle Sjöstad Christiansen and Sturla Holm Lägreid are chasing places in the total and they are approaching Samuelsson after good efforts in the sprint.
Martin Ponsiluoma became the best Swede.
It looked good for a long time with a flawless and relatively fast shooting in landscape.
A miss on the final shot in standing, however, sabotaged the chances of a podium placement.
The text is updated