A hero has returned to Russia with a gold medal around his neck. Aleksandr Sokolov, the Russian logger equipped with a Husqvarna 576 XP, is a happy man today after the success in Belarus a week ago. We got a hold of him by phone and asked him about the championship, the equipment and the future.

 

Congratulations on becoming the world champion of logging. Has it sunk in yet?

I don't think I really realized it until after the championship was over. From time to time I take a look at my gold medal and my winner's cup I got in Belarus. It says that I won, but it's still hard to say what it feels like to be a champion.

 

Tell us a little bit about how you experienced the competition?

The competition was well organized. My teammates and I had a great support from the Belarus organizers, whom we knew from before. I've been involved in competitions held in Belarus before and some of them have been held in Raubitschi. The matter of language was also an important factor. Everyone here speaks Russian, including the majority of the judges, and this made me feel comfortable and confident. If I should mention any negative aspect of the experience that would be that we, unlike most of the other participants, stayed in Minsk. This is quite a distance from Raubitschi and since the competitions began at 8 am, we had to get up very early. I also had to perform four of the disciplines in one day, but apparently it all turned out for the best.

 

How nervous were you right before the limbing race versus Jukka Perämäki?

Prior to the last discipline, I knew that I had six points up to Jukka, who was in the lead, and a few strong participants, Johann Raffl in particular, were very close behind me. Therefore, the main focus for my part was to not lose the second place. On the other hand, I knew there was a realistic chance in going for the gold. Since an error in limbing costs 20 points in penalty, my strategy focused more on quality than on speed. Apparently, Jukka had the same strategy, but in the end I managed to beat him by 1.5 seconds! These fractions of seconds proved to be crucial.

 

You won the gold medal in Tree Felling, which proved to be an important victory to win the total gold. Have you focused extra hard on this discipline in your preparations?

I have to say that my performance in this discipline contained a certain amount of luck, but I have had good results earlier years. When I participated in an official competition for my first time, I won my first gold medal in the Tree felling discipline. In my training prior to the World Logging Championship I have paid special attention to this discipline and it seems to have paid off. The felling in Raubitschi was not easy because of the softness of the wood, but I took this factor into account and it worked out well.

 

You performed the fitting another chain in 12.40 seconds. Is this a good time for you or have you performed it faster during your training sessions?

It is always easier to perform in training sessions and I have achieved times in less than 10 seconds. My personal best is 9.46 seconds. When competing in bigger competitions and especially in WLC, my performance in this discipline gets very unpredictable. Last WLC in Croatia 2010 I performed it in 10.22 seconds and in my latest competition just a month prior to this championship my time was 14 seconds. Small margins make large difference. I think that here in Belarus, all participants performed a little bit under their best performances in Fitting another chain.

 

184 points in the Combi-cut and 235 points in Precision bucking. What are your feelings on those results?

I am really satisfied with my result in Combi-cut! Regarding the Precision bucking, I do not have any special moves or strategies - I perform this discipline much on intuition. This time I tried to get a fast time without taking any risks. On the first log I left 4 mm and on the second 2 mm. Not a great result, but I am glad it was enough for the overall winning.

 

Russia took a silver medal in the national team total. Were you satisfied as a team with your effort in WLC?

We have a very strong team and I am glad that we now went from one to two world champions in the team. My teammate Iiya Shvetsov won the title in 2004 and our third member, Vladimir Dashugin, is also a very experienced and strong logger. Unfortunately, Vladimir had bad break in the felling and he missed one branch in the limbing. It made it hard for us to win the gold medal over the Finnish team. However, this was the first time Russia took a silver medal! In addition, we came first in the extra team discipline - Relay race. So we are of course extremely happy over the results in Belarus.

 

What can you tell us about the chainsaw you're using? Why did you choose to this particular machine?

I started working as a logger in 2002 and I have used Husqvarna chainsaws throughout my carrier. My first machine was a Husqvarna 254 XP, which was replaced by a Husqvarna 372 XP. This is a great chainsaw! My colleagues and myself have won many awards at various competitions using this model. But when I got the opportunity to upgrade to the newer model Husqvarna 576 XP I had to do it. I use this machine today and I use it with great pleasure. Compared to other chainsaws I have tried, this machine is more powerful and has a higher turnover, which provides the additional speed needed to win a championship.

 

How will you spend the next two years as a world champion?

I will continue to work in the forest, where I mostly operate a forwarder. I will of course keep myself in good shape and train my chainsaw skills even further. My plan is to participate in other competitions during the period and it will be great to enter them with this new title. At the same time I am already looking forward to WLC 2014. They say that winning the title is more complicated than defending it. We will just have to see!

 

In 2014, the WLC will be held in Switzerland. So your plans are to defend your title?

I hope so! I will do my best to win the qualifying competition for going to Switzerland in two year!

 

From us at Husqvarna Loggers Blog we want to congratulate you once again, Aleksandr! We wish you all the best during your two years as a world champion and we're looking forward to seeing you in Switzerland 2014!

Congratulations Aleksandr Sokolov from Russia! You are now the best logger in the world!

Ladies and gentlemen, let us present to you the winner of the World Logging Championship 2012 in Raubitschi, Belarus:

Aleksandr Sokolov from Russia

 

And here's the winner of the U24 class:

Sergej Serge Shkudrov from Belarus

 

Finally, the winning national team:

Finland

 

We managed to get an interview with both the world champion Aleksandr Sokolov, as well as the individual silver medalist as well as the team leader for the winning national team Jukka Perämäki. The language barrier isn't helping, but we can assure you that they were extremely happy both of them to win the prestigious competition. A big congratulation to both of you from the Husqvarna team and from the Husqvarna Loggers Blog!

A comment from the Husqvarna WLC expert Anders Kragner:

The whole competition was very well arranged and performed by the hosting country Belarus and the Forest ministry. Every participant I have spoken to has rated this year edition of WLC very high and in some cases the best one ever.

Beside the great site and arrangements, we also got to see some really exiting discipline performances, where the final score of the top two loggers were exactly the same. It's hard to find more excitement than that!

Finally, we are extremely happy over the fact that the top four participants in the total score were Husqvarna participants. It is of course a great boost for the brand, but most of all I am so glad to see that all the effort that the participants put into the preparation to the championships paid of. I am proud to represent a company and brand that helps them to perform on these high levels, both when it comes to equipment as as well as training camps and expert knowledge. Congratulations to Aleksandr, Jukka, Urs and the rest of the Husqvarna loggers for a great performance!

 

Here are the final results from World Logging Championship 2012:

 

Here are the final results from World Logging Championship 2012 for the U24 class:

 

And finally, here are the final results from World Logging Championship 2012 for the national teams:

Once again, the medal ceremony in Raubitschi was executed very well. Flags were waving and hymns were sung. Over 1 200 people were present and the whole event was a great success.

Most of the prizes were handed out by the forestry minister of Belarus - Mr. Amelyanovich. The world champion in the U24 class received a cup and a bottle of champagne. The winning national team got even bigger cup and bottle.

Sarah Kandel from Luxemburg, the only female participant in WLC 2012 and probably the first woman ever to attend this championship, got extra attention. We hope that her presence will encourage more women to enter this otherwise extremely male dominated competition. Sarah received a special invitation to take part in the next WLC and hopefully she will!

The ceremony ended with hosting nation Belarus officially handing over the "torch" to the next hosting nation - Switzerland - who will host the World Logging Championship 2014. After the awards at the competition site, all participants and officials were invited to a gala dinner with live music, dancing and entertainment. A lot of joy and many fellow loggers from all over the world celebrated a well performed championship together, accompagnied by a grand fireworks finale.

The final discipline that determines who's the best logger of the world is the Limbing race. This is the strength of your nerves will affect your result just as much as all the practice you have performed during the two years of preparation. Be fast and don't do any mistakes and you will go far.

Anything can happen in this final stage and so it did! Urs Armstutz from Switzerland (the top image of the blog post) performed a very fast limbing race - 14 seconds which gave him 464 points. This gave him a silver medal in the discipline and upgraded his final score. In total he got 1639 points.

Johann Raffl from Italy had a better starting position point-wise and had his aim for the gold medal. He performed the race in just over 15 seconds and without penalties this would have given him 460 points. Unfortunately the judges found an error at one of the branches giving Johann 20 penalty points. The 440 points from limbing gave him a total of 1635 points. Without any penalty in the limbing discipline he would have won the total gold medal. A tough mistake for the Italian logger, but we are of course still very impressed by the way he went through the WLC 2012. Next time you will be on top of the winner's stand, Johann!

The final race is always between the two loggers in the lead. A readers of Husqvarna Loggers Blog know by know, this meant that the final race stood between Aleksandr Sokolov from Russia and Jukka Perämäki from Finland - both representing Husqvarna. You could feel the thrill in the air!

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Jukka Perämäki was in the lead with 6 points prior to the race. He knew he couldn't afford any mistakes so he had to make a clean performance. He took it very safe and performed the race in 20 seconds and no penalty points.

Next to him, Aleksandr Sokolov knew he had to beat Jukka to win. He too made a safe race and was finished in a bit over 18 seconds. This resulted in the amazing situation that both of these loggers ended up with the same total score - 1645! So we had two loggers with the same score and everyone was wondering how it will be determined who wins the gold medal. According to the rules, Tree felling will be the decisive discipline in matters of equal total scores. Looking at the Tree felling scores, Jukka got himself 450 while Aleksandr got 654. This means that the winner of WLC 2012 is Aleksandr Sokolov from Russia!

Worth mentioning is of course the fact that the top four loggers in the total score represents Husqvarna. A huge success that we are extremely happy to announce!

Here's three video clips from the Limbing races. The first one shows a extremely even race that between two Husqvarna loggers. The second clip is a great example of well performed limbing, one of the best performances we've ever seen in this discipline. The third clip shows the performance of Jukka Perämäki in the final race.

 

 

After the second day, a medal ceremony is held to award the winners of the first four disciplines: Tree felling, Fitting another chain, Bucking with combined cuts and Precision bucking. The medal ceremony in Raubitschi was performed very professionally and well arranged. All winning loggers displayed a true joy and happiness as they entered the winner's stand to receive their medals and everyone brought their nation flag to the podium. After each round of medals were hung around the logger's necks, the national hymn of the gold medalist were played.

Prior to the ceremony, some attending fans got interviews and it was striking how enthusiastic they were to be a part of the event. About 1 200 people watched the event live, which contained a lot of smiles and laughter. One of the happiest we believe were the Russian logger Aleksandr Sokolov, who got the honor to secure the gold medal in Tree felling.

 

Winner's stand of U24 class in Precision bucking

Bronze medal to Roland Hinteregger, Italy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roland Hinteregger, Italy

Not totally satisfied with the bronze medal, he definitely wants to improve in the next WLC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Johann Raffl, Italy

A happy logger!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Aleksandr Sokolov, Russia

Many of his Husqvarna friends came close, but Alexandr sums it up well with the words "I won the gold medal!".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Sarah from Luxemburg

Happy to attend the World Logging Championship in Belarus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Mrs. Perämäki from Finland

A truly dedicated fan and extremely happy to see her husband in the lead after the first four disciplines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

The Japanese national team

Only the second time they participate in the WLC. Very promising, very happy!

At the end of the second day of World Logging Championship 2012 all loggers have performed four out of the five disciplines. The total scores will set the conditions prior to the Limbing discipline, where everyone will know who they need to beat point-wise to have a shot at the gold medal. We've seen a lot of great performances so far and the Husqvarna participants are in many cases excelling themselves.

Below you see a list of the top-10 after Day 2.
 

Individual Class
Rank No	Name	National team	Category	Points scored and penalty points							Chainsaw
				Tree felling	Lim- bing	Fitting another Chain	Com-bined Cuts	Preci-sion Cuts	Total Points	Total Penalty Points
											(Brand and type)
1	Jukka Perämäki	Finland	Aktiv	650	0	126	193	234	1203	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
2	Sokolov, Aleksandr	Russia	Aktiv	654	0	124	184	235	1197	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
3	Meijer, Martijn	Netherlands	Aktiv	647	0	122	192	234	1195	0	Stihl 460
4	Raffl Johann	Italy	Aktiv	640	0	130	185	240	1195	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
5	István JUHÁSZ	Ungarn	Aktiv	635	0	130	179	239	1183	0	Stihl MS 460
6	Jarmo Laatikainen	Finland	Aktiv	639	0	116	186	239	1180	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
7	Amstutz Urs	Schweiz	Aktiv	644	0	128	174	229	1175	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
8	Durovich Valerij	Belarus 1	Aktiv	611	0	110	198	244	1163	0	Stihl  460
9	Trabert, Marco	Germany	Aktiv	611	0	116	200	236	1163	0	Stihl 460 Magnum
10	Balciunas Romas	Litauen	Aktiv	629	0	110	187	234	1160	0	Husqvarna 372 XP
11	Capaross Yohann	France	Aktiv	615	0	128	192	225	1160	0	Husqvarna 575
12	Shkudrov Sergej Serge.	Belarus 1	U24	614	0	130	182	233	1159	0	Stihl  460
13	Ole Harald L. Kveseth	Norway	Aktiv	592	0	132	192	241	1157	0	Stihl MS 460
14	Vesa Kurki	Finland	Aktiv	627	0	118	179	233	1157	0	Jonsered 2071
15	Schmidt, Dirk	Germany	Aktiv	618	0	122	185	231	1156	0	Stihl 460 Magnum
16	Greber Benjamin	Austria	Aktiv	631	0	128	170	226	1155	0	Stihl MS 440
17	Helvis koort	Estonia	U24	633	0	116	180	226	1155	0	CS 2171
18	Milan Zujić	Serbia	Aktiv	624	0	114	191	226	1155	0	STIHL 460  Mag
19	Øystein Koht-Norbye	Norway	Aktiv	608	0	132	178	236	1154	0	Stihl 460 Magnum
20	Karpavicius Gintaras	Litauen	Aktiv	649	0	97	174	233	1153	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
21	Peter Fox	UK	Aktiv	630	0	120	176	227	1153	0	Stihl 460 F1
22	Kobe Boštjan	Slovenia	Aktiv	633	0	118	185	215	1151	0	Husqvarna 376
23	Róbert Rittlinger	Ungarn	Aktiv	614	0	128	181	227	1150	0	Stihl MS 460
24	Essenstam, Arian	Netherlands	Aktiv	640	0	118	164	227	1149	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
25	Kampen van, John	Netherlands	Aktiv	607	0	120	186	236	1149	0	Stihl MS 460
26	Lerch, Orlando	Schweiz	U24	643	0	102	170	230	1145	0	Stihl  460
27	Ennemoser Karl	Italy	Aktiv	635	0	120	162	227	1144	0	Jonsered CS 2171
28	Edmunds Krisans	Latvia	Aktiv	635	0	98	175	235	1143	0	Jonsered 2071
29	Andron Anatolij	Belarus 1	Aktiv	581	0	118	200	243	1142	0	Stihl  460
30	Biemmi Massimiliano	Italy	Aktiv	614	0	110	183	233	1140	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
31	Shvetsov, Ilya	Russia	Aktiv	594	0	118	193	235	1140	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
32	Hinteregger Roland	Italy	U24	609	0	122	173	235	1139	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
33	Dashugin, Vladimir	Russia	Aktiv	603	0	124	177	234	1138	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
34	László BAKÓ	Ungarn	Aktiv	610	0	116	167	242	1135	-20	Stihl MS 460
35	Gstöhl, Sigmund	Liechtenstein	Aktiv	605	0	102	191	233	1131	0	Jonsered 2171
36	šolaja Predrag	Croatia	U24	626	0	114	157	232	1129	0	Stihl MS 460
37	Gatis Brencis	Latvia	Aktiv	589	0	118	182	239	1128	-50	Husqvarna 372 XP
38	Olesk, Andres	Estonia	Aktiv	604	0	120	177	225	1126	0	CS 2171
39	Nesterovich Jurij	Belarus 1	Aktiv	562	0	126	195	240	1123	0	Stihl  460
40	Čuk Robert	Slovenia	Aktiv	589	0	126	173	234	1122	0	Husqvarna 576XP
41	Martin Muttik	Estonia	Aktiv	604	0	100	195	223	1122	0	CS 2171
42	Illien, Arno	Schweiz	Aktiv	626	0	118	140	233	1117	-50	Husqvarna 372
43	Marius K. Hanssen	Norway	U24	583	0	122	177	232	1114	0	Stihl 460 Magnum
44	Eggenberger, Martin	Liechtenstein	Aktiv	591	0	104	168	239	1102	0	Stihl 460
45	Sulev Tooming	Estonia	Aktiv	564	0	126	189	223	1102	0	Stihl 046
46	Koch Johannes	Austria	U24	636	0	128	174	163	1101	0	Stihl 460
47	Rupnik Tadej	Slovenia	U24	583	0	120	168	230	1101	0	Husqvarna 372xp
48	Matthew Thomas	UK	Aktiv	652	0	76	164	207	1099	-20	Husqvarna  372 xp
49	Biloszewski Stanislaw	Poland	Aktiv	631	0	97	155	215	1098	0	Husqvarna 576 xp
50	Leichtfried Robert	Austria	Aktiv	559	0	108	195	232	1094	0	Stihl 440
51	Gnus Ivan	Slovenia	Aktiv	588	0	99	181	223	1091	0	Stihl 460 Magnum
52	Daniel Fortuna	UK	U24	611	0	92	157	230	1090	0	Husqvarna 576 xp
53	Penkaitis Povilas	Litauen	Aktiv	588	0	114	157	231	1090	0	Husqvarna 372 XP
54	Huster, Florian	Germany	U24	566	0	120	174	229	1089	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
55	Szala Roman	Poland	Aktiv	605	0	116	143	223	1087	0	Makita DCS 7901
56	Goran Miličević	Serbia	U24	633	0	106	124	213	1076	-80	STIHL 460  Mag
57	Umgeher Harald	Austria	Aktiv	611	0	122	176	165	1074	0	Stihl 460
58	Mr Richard Elliott	UK	Aktiv	649	0	106	182	133	1070	-100	Jonsered 2071
59	Goran Bojanić	Serbia	Aktiv	630	0	106	98	234	1068	-50	STIHL 460  Mag
60	Jacek Stochnialek	Poland	Aktiv	575	0	120	131	238	1064	-20	Dolmar PS7900 HS
61	Francúz Patrik	Slovakia	U24	548	0	98	182	235	1063	0	Stihl MS 460
62	Speidel, Kim	Luxembourg	Aktiv	598	0	108	157	200	1063	0	Stihl 460
63	Briechle, Gerhard	Germany	Aktiv	518	0	132	180	230	1060	0	Stihl 460 Magnum
64	Domashkin Sergiy	Ukraine	Aktiv	534	0	108	185	230	1057	0	Motor Sich 475 S
65	Varga Siniša	Croatia	Aktiv	521	0	122	163	251	1057	-30	Stihl MS 460
66	Tamás RÉPÁS	Ungarn	U24	533	0	116	168	238	1055	0	Stihl MS 460
67	Petitqueux Jean M.	France	Aktiv	593	0	106	190	161	1050	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
68	Maes, Jan	Belgium	Aktiv	576	0	110	140	217	1043	0	Husqvarna 372 sp
69	Nollet Camille	France	U24	542	0	130	146	225	1043	-20	Stihl 440
70	Wawrzak Adam	Poland	U24	649	0	102	142	146	1039	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
71	Herzog Jiři	Tschechien	Aktiv	581	0	93	161	200	1035	-40	Dolmar PS7900
72	Stasiunas Gediminas	Litauen	U24	577	0	112	181	162	1032	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
73	Anatolijs Selivanos	Latvia	Aktiv	501	0	114	175	239	1029	0	Jonsereds 2071
74	Ole Ludvig Gjøby	Norway	Aktiv	548	0	104	153	222	1027	-20	Jonsered 2171
75	Ĉorković Milan	Croatia	Aktiv	567	0	124	176	158	1025	-20	Stihl MS 460
76	Wagner, Claude	Luxembourg	Aktiv	628	0	90	151	154	1023	-50	Husqvarna 372 xp
77	Kvasničák Tomáš	Slovakia	Aktiv	599	0	116	66	239	1020	-100	Stihl MS 460
78	Gantenbein, Marc	Liechtenstein	Aktiv	543	0	94	152	226	1015	0	Stihl 460
79	Dauphin David	France	Aktiv	547	0	130	165	164	1006	-40	Stihl 440
80	Miquel Casas Lopez	Spain	Aktiv	570	0	94	124	215	1003	0	Jonsered CS 2171
81	Sydorenko Oleksandr	Ukraine	Aktiv	623	0	112	177	90	1002	0	Husqvarna 576 xp
82	Vorlicek Jiri	Tschechien	Aktiv	564	0	122	79	235	1000	-100	Husqvarna 372 xp
83	Kukhta Volodymyr	Ukraine	Aktiv	502	0	106	175	214	997	0	Husqvarna 576 xp
84	Kukuc Jaroslav	Slovakia	Aktiv	450	0	132	180	234	996	0	Stihl MS 460
85	Hubert Barták	Tschechien	Aktiv	580	0	92	164	148	984	0	Husqvarna 371 xp
86	Kreins, Andre	Luxembourg	Aktiv	528	0	97	145	209	979	0	Stihl 460
87	Martins Kepitis	Latvia	U24	509	0	95	137	233	974	-20	Husqvarna 372 XP
88	Eigenraam, Harm	Netherlands	U24	556	0	112	121	180	969	-100	Stihl 460
89	Perveka Jaroslav	Slovakia	Aktiv	511	0	116	173	167	967	0	Dolmar PS-7900
90	Gautschi, Daniel	Schweiz	Aktiv	470	0	124	163	206	963	-50	Stihl 440
91	Jindřich Fazekaš	Tschechien	U24	511	0	104	121	223	959	-50	Husqvarna 576 xp
92	Ivanković Davor	Croatia	Aktiv	443	0	114	174	227	958	0	Stihl MS 460
93	Maeda, Tomohiro	Japan	Aktiv	554	0	100	76	224	954	-100	Husqvarna 576 XP
94	Akita, Mitsugi	Japan	Aktiv	520	0	95	134	201	950	-20	Husqvarna 576 XP
95	Kandel Sarah	Luxembourg	U24	476	0	95	156	221	948	0	Husqvarna 576 xp
96	Mirooshnyk Igor	Ukraine	U24	578	0	82	125	163	948	0	Husqvarna 365
97	Lambregts Francois	Belgium	Aktiv	585	0	54	141	136	916	-20	Husqyarna 376XP
98	Gerard David	Belgium	Aktiv	573	0	82	41	217	913	-50	Stihl 660
99	Dragan Stojanović	Serbia	Aktiv	560	0	75	112	158	905	-50	STIHL 460  Mag
100	Shirakawa, Hiroki	Japan	Aktiv	454	0	48	124	214	840	0	Husqvarna 576 XP
101	Sneyers, Gert	Belgium	U24	452	0	100	141	67	760	-120	Husqvarna 576 xp
102	Agustí Malsió Jimenez	Spain	Aktiv	457	0	84	78	131	750	-140	Jonsered CS 2171
103	Jordi Anglada Serrasolsas	Spain	U24	315	0	94	128	211	748	-20	Jonsered CS 2171
104	Oriol Molà Fuster	Spain	Aktiv	435	0	0	99	199	733	0	Jonsered CS 2171
105	Elesban Witting	Ecuador	Aktiv	488	0	83	0	134	705	-120	Husqvarna 372 XP
106	Segundo Castillo	Ecuador	Aktiv	430	0	0	0	79	509	-210	Husqvarna 372 XP
107	Usay Duran Rivera	Ecuador	Aktiv	422	0	0	0	53	475	-270	Husqvarna 372 XP

 

Jukka Perämäki from Finland is in an extremely good shape and with a score of 1203 so far he has shown a stable and controlled performance so far. Being Scandinavian we also have great hopes for him performing well in Limbing. (Scandinavians have historically performed very well in this discipline over the years). Considering what we can expect from the limbing discipline, we would bet our money on either Jukka och Johann Raffl from Italy to win the total, but anything can happen. Johann looks like he is in a really good shape in will definitely do everything he can to receive the gold medal around his neck.

 

In the totals for the national teams the leader board looks like this:

1. Finland - 3540
2. The Netherlands - 3493
3. Italy - 3479
4. Russia - 3475
5. Hungary - 3468
6. Belarus - 3428
7. Lithuania - 3403
 

It looks lite the gold medals are already hanging around the Finnish necks, but one again: Anything can happen in limbing. Nerves can easily give you a mistake or two and then you fall pretty fast in the score board. Russia and Italy are going to do what they can to catch up and defeat the Finns. We'll just have to see if the are successful after the limbing is done!

A comment from the expert Anders Kragner:
I'm quite optimistic prior to the remaining limbing discipline. There is a good chance that a Husqvarna participant till take home the gold medal in the individual senior class total. Jukka Perämäki and Johann Raffl both have very good points and are both great limbers. The pressure of being in the top-5 will though increase the risk of mistakes, but hopefully they will have their nerves well prepared. The current score of the Finnish team is very high and if nothing too radical takes place in the limbing discipline, they will take the gold medal for national teams. 

Here's a video clip of the Slovenian Robert Cuk performing all the three technical disciplines. Like you read in the last blog post, Robert was a bit behind in score since he made a few mistakes in the felling. The three disciplines of Saturday gave a better return for Robert, as you can see in the video.

Yesterday, the group that had performed Tree felling and the group that had performed the technical disciplines on the Friday switched places. After all the Saturday performances all loggers would have performed four out of the five discipllines, prior to the showdown of WLC - Limbing. We took the chance to take a closer look at three of the Husqvarna participants performing the technical disciplines.

Johann Raffl, Italy
Johann performed well in all of the disciplines performed, including the Tree felling the day before. This makes him a major favorite to the total gold medal, since he's a very good limber. Apparently it has been heard that he has focused much of his practice on Limbing and it will be extremely interesting to see him race today. He seems to be in a great mood this weekend!

 

Robert Cuk, Slovenia
Robert had a really tough day yesterday, where he made a few mistakes in the Tree felling discipline. This resulted in him being 83 point after the leading logger after only one discipline performed. He did though perform well in all the three technical disciplines, but the gap will probably be too large for him to have a chance at the medals this year.

 

Max Biemmi, Italy
Just like Robert, Massimiliano "Max" Biemmi had a really tough Tree felling session during the Friday. The result from that effort had him 63 point after the leader. Also Max had a good run at the technical disciplines and we all cross our fingers an hope that he really can excel in the Limbing disciplines and even out the scores a little bit.