Andreas Kofler and Gregor Schlierenzauer skipped the last World Cup in Nizhny Tagil. But while Andreas Kofler will be competing again in Engelberg as planned, Schlierenzauer will also not be participating in the events in Switzerland

Andreas Kofler stayed in Norway after the World Cup in Lillehammer in order to use the good training possibilities and to prepare himself for the upcoming competitions. "I had some good days of training in Lillehammer, I didn't have anything like that previously. I was able to gain more trust in my jumps again and I will go to Engelberg with a positive feeling. I don't expect something big there, but I always did well on this hill and so the chances are good that I can finally start achieved some good results."

Gregor Schlierenzauer's goal is still to return to the World Cup on time for the 4-Hills-Tournament. "I will not compete in Engelberg and continue the process I'm currently going through. But my goal remains to be on the Austrian team for Oberstdorf. Over the past days I got some mental energy back and now it's about maximizing the "hunger" for ski jumping and the joy again. There's no recipe for that, it just has to happen. I will use the time until Christmas for a mix of distraction and training."

Hayboeck with self-confidence

After his second place on Sunday in Nizhny Tagil, Michael Hayboeck, who was third twice in Engelberg last year, is optimistic for the upcoming two competitions. "The podium result in Russia gave me a lot of confidence. Of course you start to worry, when it's not going that well at the beginning of a season. But we remained calm and now that I know I'm on the right tack, I can face the upcoming tasks with optimism."

The Austrian team, with Michael Hayboeck, Stefan Kraft, Andreas Kofler, Manuel Fettner, Manuel Poppinger and Markus Schiffner, will already travel to Switzerland on Wednesday to train there on Thursday.

Source: fis-ski.com