SAPPORO (Kyodo) Noriaki Kasai held off in-form Takanobu Okabe to win the TVh Cup ski jumping meet Sunday, picking up his first title of the season in Japan since he returned from the World Cup circuit earlier this month.
Kasai collected 257.1 points after he posted 119.5 meters on his first jump and then nailed the day's longest effort of 135 meters on the K-120 Okurayama hill, while fellow veteran Okabe, who had won seven of the previous eight domestic events, finished second on 246.1.
It was Kasai's first TVh Cup victory in 15 years and second overall.
Defending champion Shohei Tochimoto took third on 214.9 and Akira Higashi fourth on 213.6.
Izumi Yamada won the women's event for the third time in a row with 229.6 points.