Anders Bardal won the World Cup competition on his
home hill in Trondheim. Andreas Kofler was second
and achieved his first podium since December 2012.
The third place went to Japanese veteran Noriaki
Kasai.
Roman Koudelka, who was the surprising leader after
the first round, was fourth. His best result in
the World Cup in more than two years.
With jumps on 136.5 m and 131 m Bardal scored a
total of 269.3 points, 4.4 more than Kofler, and
took his second win this season. The 31-year-old
was more than happy about the triumph in his hometown:
"A dream comes true for me with this win on
my home hill, maybe even my biggest dream. Thanks
to the fantastic crowd that came out despite the
weather. I knew I could fight for the podium with
two good jumps and I was able to do that."
For the Austria, who was on the Olympic team but
didn't get a chance to compete in Sochi, jumped
on 136.5 m and 131.5 m. "It feels great to
be on the podium again. My jumps were getting better
and better recently and this was definitely my best
competition this season." 41-year-old Kasai
posted jumps on 135.5 m and 132 m for 261.4 points
and came in 1.8 points ahead of Koudelka. With 137
m the Czech was in the lead after the first round,
125.5 m in the final were not enough for the podium.
"For me it was a perfect day and a very good
competition. I'm very happy about the podium result",
said Kasai.
Koudelka surprises - Prevc misses final
Reruhi Shimizu, who won the qualification on Thursday,
achieved his best result this season in fifth with
132.5 m and 128 m and 256.6 points. While Peter
Prevc, second in the overall World Cup, missed to
qualify for the final, Jernej Damjan was the best
Slovene in sixth with 249.3 points.
Freund improves in second round
Like Prevc, also Severin Freund didn't have a lot
of luck with the wind conditions, but he moved up
from 22nd to seventh in final round (248.5 points).
World Cup leader Kamil Stoch was ninth in Trondheim
with 245.6 points, 2.5 points behind Michael Hayboeck.
Anssi Koivuranta completed the Top 10 with 245.2
points. Stefan Kraft in 11th and Gregor Schlierenzauer
in 13th also provided a very good team result for
Austria, even if the record World Cup winner probably
expected more. Antonin Hajek and Jan Matura achieved
good results for the Czech team in 14th and 15th.
Good comeback for Tom Hilde
Tom Hilde, who was struggeling with his shape and
missed the Olympics in Sochi, had a good comeback
in the World Cup in 16th. Lauri Asikainen was the
second-best Finn in 17th. Gregor Deschwanden came
in 20th, once again ahead of his famous teammate
Simon Ammann, who was only 30th. Dimitry Vassiliev,
who was on a good seventh place after the first
round, lost his chances on a top result in the final.
But the 22nd place was still one of his better results
this season.
Three remaining contenders for overall title
Kamil Stoch now extended his lead in the overall
World Cup to 132 points over Prevc. Severin Freund
is now 105 points behind the Slovene. With three
more individual competitions left this season, Stoch,
Prevc and Freund are the only remaining contenders
for the overall title.
The next competition will take place on the Holmenkollen
on Sunday, this event will also be the final test
for the upcoming ski flying World Championships
next week in Harrachov.
