Anders Fannemel, Severin Freund,
Stefan Kraft - FIS
Severin Freund won the second individual competition
in Nizhny Tagil (RUS). Under changing wind conditions
the German posted a jump on 131.5 m and took his
first win this season.
“This year I waited a bit longer with my first win”,
Freund said on German TV after his tenth win the
in the World Cup and added: “The trend is definitely
positive. I wanted to make a second jump, it would
have been fun. I'm sure that the other jumpers would
have also wanted a second jump, especially with
such conditions it's better two have two rounds.
But I think I deserved the win with my jump. We
would like to come back to Nizhny Tagil. Especially
on the first day the conditions were good and it
was fun.”
Cancelation shortly before the end
The jury surprisingly canceled the final round with
only ten jumpers left and so the result of the first
round counted. Assistant Race Director Miran Tepes
explained this decision: “Towards the end of the
second round the wind gusts got stronger and more
unpredictable. We decided not to risk the health
of the jumpers. If the wind conditions are changing
it's more fair to have two rounds, because the influence
of luck is usually equalized by the second round,
but if the conditions are dangerous for the athletes
it’s better not to risk too much.”
With 145.7 points Freund came in ahead of Anders
Fannemel, the winner of yesterday's competition,
and Stefan Kraft. Anders Fannemel jumped on 135
m and scored 143.3 points.
Kraft and Fannemel surprised by the cancelation
The Norwegian told: “I was a bit surprised that
the final round was canceled. Usually the second
round helps to equalize the influence of the conditions,
but maybe the wind was too dangerous. It’s really
important for ski jumping when there are many supporters
at the hill and we are doing our best to entertain
them.”
With a longer inrun Stefan Kraft set a new hill
record with 138 m, a jump that earned him 141.1
points. “I was surprised that the second round was
canceled. I saw that Andy Kofler had problems in
the air and therefore I think the jury made the
right decision. It was just a bit strange that there
was no short break or fore jumpers before the cancelation.
I was really amazed by how many people attended
the events. They cheered for all of us, when somebody
had a long jump you could hear it even at the top
of the hill. It was great here. Yesterday it was
very crazy, because I had to borrow the equipment
from fore jumper. It seems I can jump especially
well under difficult conditions”, the Austrian said.
Gregor Schlierenzauer was fourth with 135 m and
missed the podium by the tiny margin of only 0.2
points. Michael Hayboeck followed in fifth and was
the third Austrian in the Top 5. Hayboeck scored
139.8 points with his jump on 131 m.
Career-best for Pungertar
12 points behind, Matjaz Pungertar of Slovenia came
in on a career-best sixth place. The two Norwegians
Rune Velta (125.7 points) and Daniel-Andre Tande
(124.7 points) followed in seventh and eighth. Only
0.1 point behind Peter Prevc, Marinus Kraus was
tenth with 123.2 points.
Andreas Kofler benefited from the cancelation. He
could avoid a fall under difficult conditions and
would have lost many places in the second round.
Now he finished eleventh, ahead of Finland's Jarkko
Maeaettae. Michael Neumayer achieved his best result
this season in 13th, the 14th place for Vladislav
Boyarintsev was even a career-best result.
Good result for Vassiliev
Dimitry Vassiliev came in on a good 16th place,
right behind Ville Larinto. In absence of Roman
Koudelka, Jan Matura was the best Czech in 17th,
Shohei Tochimoto was the best of the Japanese team
in 22nd. Mikhail Maksimochkin was 30th and could
at least score World Cup point.
With his win Severin Freund moved up to second,
behind Anders Fannemel, in the overall World Cup
ranking. Peter Prevc is third.
The next two individual competitions will take place
in Engelberg (SUI) next weekend. This will be the
final test before the 4-Hills-Tournament.
