Teams were introduced to the audience at the opening party in the city centre of Braunlage.
There was steady rain all evening, so not as many fans as expected made it to the opening party of the Continental Cup in the centre of Braunlage. Nevertheless it was a jolly and nice event. At 8:00 PM there was a team presentation, where all competitors were introduced to the audience.
The Norwegian and the Finish team, that were still competing on Wednesday in Hinterzarten, decided to skip Braunlage, some jumpers of the Slovenian team also went home. The Austrian team is only represented by Daniela Iraschko and Jacqueline Seifriedsberger. Also France has only two competitors, Coline Mattel and Julia Clair.
Russia, that was only represented by Irina Taktaeva at the last Continental Cups, was reinforced by their whole B-squad, that was competing at the Ladies Cup in Ziri on the last weekend. The host nation Germany uses the maximum quota of ten competitors. They have used there option to nominate a National Group already during the week in Hinterzarten.
As there are only 36 competitors in total, there is a good chance that the Chinese team will make it’s first points in a Ladies Continental Cup. The best chance of them to achieve this has presumably Tong Ma, who was by far the best Chinese in Schonach and Hinterzarten. Contrary to older starting list entries, Tong Ma is 16 and not 11 years old.
Right after the team presentation the rain stopped. If the weather conditions remain like this for the whole weekend, we can look forward to some nice competitions. The latest forecasts are not too bad.