"It's a disaster, it felt so damn good today and I'm so frustrated. I come in and see that the wind is blowing to the right and twisting against the wind but it wasn't enough. So sad when I felt immortal out on the track, says Ponsiluoma, who will now reset himself before Sunday's pursuit start to SVT Sport.
Shooting coach Jean-Marc Chabloz was at the mound and didn't see that Ponsiluoma had screwed.
"It's so bad and it makes me upset. It's so obvious that the wind is from left to right and then you can't shoot like they do, you have to screw. For Martin, it's a matter of screwing two clicks and he'll hit everyone, super boring and I get a little annoyed. The same goes for Sebbe," says Chabloz.
"Didn't feel safe on the hunt"
For Ponsiluoma, the four missed shots were in the right position. He had the third fastest time, 18 seconds behind Johannes Dale-Skjevdal. He will have to go out 1.15 after the lead in Sunday's pursuit where Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen is in the lead.
"I didn't feel safe when I came into the mound and it was a bad series," Samuelsson said of his recumbent series. He also pulled on a boom in standing.
"It was one too many and today the shooting didn't work and I can't blame the wind because there was almost no wind," Samuelsson continues, "I didn't screw anything, which goes out at the same time as Ponsiluoma on the pursuit."
Ponsiluoma started eighth, a minute ahead of Samuelsson and they had each other in sight in the penalty round as they spun around lap after lap.
"It's a catastrophic start and it's hard to explain," says SVT Sport's expert Björn Ferry, who also counts Jesper Nelin, who had two barriers.
"There's a mystery about Ponsiluoma's recumbent shooting," Ferry muses.