Hörl 2nd in Innsbruck Qualifiers, Stoch . out

The 23-year-old finished second at the top of his third Four Hills Championship on Monday, behind the Japanese overall leader, while fellow countryman Daniel Huber came fourth. Nine of the 13 Austrians who took part in the competition made it to the top 50, but Stefan Kraft was only 42nd, and Michael Haybock barely made it to 51st.

“Eat and Hope”

Hörl immediately felt at home on the first home hills. “I adapted to the hill very well and in qualifying I went a little further,” the 23-year-old said. For the competition (Tuesday, 1.30pm, live ORF 1), Hörl decided to throw away his points again and have a good stage in expected wind conditions. Eat and wish you a little luck,” said the ninth tour operator.

At 126.5 meters, Kobayashi jumped 2.5 meters shorter than Hörl, but received more wind points. Hopper had similar conditions to his compatriot in his 128-square-meter group. “My qualification was brave, it was fun,” said the 10th in the round. Since training jumps have not worked well before, a rigorous analysis remains to be done. Manuel Wittner was satisfied with his 16th place finish, “It’s been a consistent day, my best so far on this Tour. Good for your head.”

After his own training the day before in Seefeld, things didn’t go well for Kraft, 114m was enough to qualify with a bit of a stomachache. In Garmisch-Partenkirchen, New Year’s Eve on the 59th day did not work out. Although he currently has to bake smaller rolls, Kraft didn’t want to be fussy. And preferred to take a look at the 126m and the second place in the second training session. “It gives me a good feeling that something great can turn out if I do things right.”

“Go away with black eyes”

Kraft has announced that you can count on anything with it to compete. Salzburg’s player in a knockout showdown against Anzi Lanicek of Slovenia, Daniel Chuvinig, who landed one place behind Kraft, attracted German hopeful Markus Eisenbechler. The Carinthian jumped behind his claims. “All my three jumps weren’t good. If the necessary points are not met, then everything will not fly anymore. I got away with a black eye.”

From the red-white-and-red-seventh stem in this round, Philip Aschenwald managed to reach the 30th place, Ulrich Fulgenant remained 55th and the weakest Austrian on the road. In the competition duel, Aschenwald meets fellow countryman Thomas Lackner who, after a 121-meter jump in 21st, is clearly the best of the ÖSV national group. Clemens Aigner was also promoted to 45th place and Stefan Rainer to 49th. Elias Midwid (52nd) and Maximilian Ortner (53rd) fell behind Hybock.

Immediately after a herniated disc operation at the beginning of October, it was hoped he’s back again, with his 113m jump rated at 1.4 points too low to climb. “Overall, nothing went well for me,” Hayböck said of the jump quality in plain language. “But I’ve been through the three jumps pretty well physically. It’s good to be able to at least participate again.” He now wants to use Tuesday to prepare for Bischofshofen.

The title holder did not qualify

Some notable names did not qualify, for example Polish defending champion Kamil Stosch when he was just 59 years old. The 34-year-old then left the tour, the Polish Federation announced Monday evening via Twitter. Stoch, who dominated the traditional event last year, had no chance and no points for the World Cup in Oberstdorf (41) and Garmisch-Partenkirchen (47th).

The three-time Olympic champion will now return to Poland and not only miss the last leg of the tour in Bischofshofen, but also the weekend following the World Cup, which will also take place in Bischofshofen. Poles in general have big problems this winter. In the World Cup as a whole, Stoch came in 13th and is still the best among his team. Piotr Zyla (27) and Dawid Kubacki (37) are further afield.

Norway’s Johann-Andre Furfang (106.5) came just behind Stoch, while his compatriot Fredrik Willemstad came in 69th (104.5). Kobayashi, who triumphed in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, had a total of 13.2 points ahead of Norway’s Marius Lindvik, who came 14th in the Bergisel qualifying.