Japan has secured two spots for the men's skeleton team in the Turin Olympics as it stood sixth in the World Cup rankings after Thursday's event in Koenigssee, Germany.
Masaru Inada and Kazuhiro Koshi stood 15th and 17th, respectively, and highest among Japanese skeleton sliders, in the individual rankings and all but secured their second consecutive Winter Olympic berths.
In the fifth and latest World Cup event, Koshi came ninth, his best finish this season, with a total of 1 minute, 39.29 seconds for two runs.
Sebastian Haupt of Germany won the event with 1:38.10, edging Kristan Bromley of Britain by 0.37 second. Inada ended at 18th.
After five World Cup races, the top three nations, Canada, the United States and Britain, grabbed three Olympic spots each, while the fourth to sixth nations, Austria, Germany and Japan, took two each. One spot each is given to the seventh to 12th nations.