Severin Freund won the opening event of the 64th 4-Hills-Tournament in Oberstdorf. With jumps on 126 m and 137.5 m and a total of 307.2 points the World Champion moved up from 6th after the first round and took his first win in a 4-Hills competition. The second and third place went to Michael Hayboeck and Peter Prevc.
Freund was happy: "It's really nice. We clear up the legacy a bit, after Richard Freitag already won last season in Innsbruck. For everyone, and for myself, it's nice that the wish for a home win during the 4-Hills-Tournament was fulifilled now. The atmosphere was amazing, especially for the national anthem. The others in the team did a good job as well. The victory ceremony was very special. The conditions were actually pretty stable, at the end it got hectically. I was happy that I had already jumped at that point."
Hayboeck more than happy
Michael Hayboeck, second in last season's 4-HIlls-Tournament, achieved a strong result in the opener for the Austrians, who won the last seven editions of the Tour, with 130 m and 139 m and 304.2 points. The Austrian said afterwards: "I'm more than happy about the second place and I didn't expect that. The conditions were not a disadvantage for me, especially in the second round. I might have helped that I went to church at Christmas. My jumps got better and better and the last one was great. The crowd was amazing, there's no better place to work. And of course the result was perfect as well. This is not only good for the Germans, but for all of us."
Prevc only satisfied with the jumps
Top favorite Peter Prevc had a clear lead after the first round, but with 129.5 m and 130 m and 299.9 points he finished third overall. The Slovene told: "It was a difficult competition for everyone. The changing winds in the final didn't make it any easier. But I'm satisfied with my jumps, I'm not that satisfied with the result. It's already my third third place here in Oberstdorf. I take one jump at a time and try to focus only on myself. The atmosphere here in Oberstdorf and at the 4-Hills-Tournament is always great. I like it to jump in front of a big crowd. Then it's even more fun to be a ski jumper."
Fannemel best Norwegian
The fourth place went to world record holder Anders Fannemel with 130.5 m and 129 m and 295.8 points, a good starting position in the 4-Hills-Tournamnet for him. At age 43 Noriaki Kasai can also still dream of his first 4-Hills win after his 127 m and 133.5 m (290.6 points). The Japanese said: "The two jumps were almost perfect and so it was a perfect day for me. I hope that I can jump even better next time and win. I feel like 23."
Strong Team Norge
Kenneth Gangnes (288.6 points), Johann Andre Forfang (278.8 points) and Daniel Andre Tande (273.9 points) provided a strong team result for the Norwegians. Joachim Hauer closely missed the Top 10 in eleventh. Kenneth Gangnes said: "All in all it was a good and fair competition. Of course the gate changes are not perfect, but the best finished on top. I think that Freund and Prevc will fight for the overall title, but Michael Hayboeck also has to be reckoned with." Defending champion Stefan Kraft came in on a good seventh place with 287.7 points, but he is now already about 20 points behind the leader Severin Freund. Richard Freitag, who won in Innsbruck last season, was ninth with 276.5 points.
Ammann more stable
Like already in Monday's qualification, Simon Ammann showed more stable landings again and finished 12th. The Swiss told: "It was a nice competition. For me it's demanding to jump well in a competition despite the technical problems. I'm already far behind in the overall ranking and I can fully focus on my own jumps."
Germans move up in the final round
The good result of the German team, with strong performances especially in the final round, was completed by Andreas Wank, Stephan Leyhe and Andreas Wellinger on the places 13 to 15. Andreas Wank, only 22nd after the first round, was happy: "It was an amazing competition. The final was a big relieve. In the first round the team was too tense, we attacked more in the final." Wellinger said: "The wind was not the problem today, it was myself. In the second round I did better technically and jumped 10 meters longer. I hope that I can show six more jumps like the final one today." Michael Neumayer, who was 19th in his first World Cup competition this season, said later: "I benefited from my experience today. Actually I'm not in a really good shape yet, I'm pretty satisfied with today's competition." It was also a good day for Vincent Descombes Sevoie, who finished 17th. Taku Takeuchi was the second-best of the Japanese team in 18th.
Fettner not satisfied
Manuel Fettner and Andreas Stjernen tied for 20th, Jakub Janda was the best Czech in 22nd. Fettner said: "I can't be really happy. Especially the first jump was my worst in weeks. That's why I'm a bit angry right now." Double Olympic champion Kamil Stoch was the only Polish athlete in the final, he was 23rd. Under difficult and changing wind conditions, youngster Domen Prevc was 27th. Evgeniy Klimov was the only Russian, who could score World Cup points today in 28th.
Schlierenzauer misses final
Two-time 4-Hills-Tournament winner Gregor Schlierenzauer suffered a defeat today and failed to qualify for the final round in 31st. Slovenia's Jurij Tepes had a very bad jump and was only 50th.
The 4-Hills-Tournament continues on Thursday with the qualification for the New Year's competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Source: fis-ski.com
