A great day for the Kobayashis in Lillehammer
Mar 11, 2019·Ski Jumping
The qualification day in Lillehammer was the day of the Kobayashi brothers and the team of Japan. With Junshiro, the older of the two Kobayashis surprisingly won the qualification ahead of his brother Ryoyu, he clinched the overall World Cup title as the first non-European ski jumper yesterday. The third place went to Johann Andre Forfang of Norway.
Junshiro Kobayashi jumped on 139.5 m (143.1 points), 2.5 m farther than Ryoyu (137 m; 140.8 points). This was the first 1-2 finish for the brothers, who represented different clubs in Japan.
Johann Andre Forfang posted a jump of 143.5 m in good wind conditions and due to the headwind, he was only third, despite this distance. Stefan Kraft of Austria was fourth, followed by Swiss Simon Amann, whose shape is getting better and better. Ammann could be capable of achieving a podium finish towards the end of the season - great.
Behind Ammann, Andreas Stjernen, who will retire in just a couple of days, and Slovenian youngster Timi Zajc finished sixth and seventh. Raw Air leader Robert Johansson and Kamil Stoch tied for eighth, Karl Geiger was the best German in tenth.
Leyhe struggles through
Thumbs up for Stephan Leyhe after today's qualification in Lillehammer. After his crash in Oslo on Saturday, he is still feeling pain in his right ankle, but he struggled through both training rounds and qualified for the competition with a solid 28th place. The Willingen-native showed that he is a fighter.
After his crash on Saturday at the Holmenkollen, Norway's Marius Lindvik gained some attention for a second time: Lindvik fell again in Lillehammer, fortunately, he didn't suffer any injuries and made the cut for tomorrow's competition thanks to his great jump.
Raw Air overall ranking remains exciting
With his second place today, Ryoyu Kobayashi gained more than ten points compared to overall leader Robert Johansson, who was eighth with 131 m. After five of 15 jumps, Johansson now leads with 677 points, followed by Ryoyu Kobayashi (659.7 points) and Austria's Stefan Kraft, who was fourth today.
The men's competition in Lillehammer starts on Tuesday at 5 pm CET.
)
