Nineteen-year-old Daiki Ito and Noriaki Kasai were among the five skiers named to the national team for the Nordic Skiing World Championships, but struggling Nagano Olympic gold-medalist Kazuyoshi Funaki was left off the list, the Ski Association of Japan said Wednesday.
Funaki has been a regular in the biennial event since 1995, but missed his sixth straight berth as he has not been productive this season, failing to advance beyond the qualifying rounds in a number of World Cup meets.
He is ranked sixth among the Japanese skiers in the World Cup standings.