With his 13th win in the World Cup Kamil Stoch got
another step closer to winning this season's overall
World Cup title. Severin Freund and Anders Bardal
came in second and third in Kuopio, Stoch's main
rival in the overall ranking, Peter Prevc, was fourth.
Stoch jumped on 126.5 m in both rounds and with
262.7 points he finished 3.8 points ahead of Freund.
"I'm really happy about my two jumps today.
I really enjoy jumping in Kuopio because I like
this hill very much. I'm happy about each victory
and it gives me more self confidence. I'm not tired,
I just started." The German, who is currently
third in the overall World Cup, jumped on 127 m
and 125 m. "The competitions are on a high
level, also after the Olympics. It was an extremely
fair competition. I used the few days at home to
relax and recharge the batteries. Right now I really
enjoy jumping and I don't feel tired." It was
my third World Cup podium in a row, it can't get
any better.
With 257.6 points and jumps on 123 m and 127.5 m
Anders Bardal was third, 7.6 points ahead of Prevc.
The silver and bronze medalist of the Olympics in
Sochi showed jumps on 123.5 m and 126 m. "It
was one of the fairest competitions this winter.
The wind was not changing a lot and it was a very
nice competition. Kamil Stoch and Severin Freund
are almost unbeatable at the moment but I was close
today and I feel good", said Bardal.
Ammann getting stronger
Simon Ammann presented himself in an improved shape
and with 125 m and 126 m for 249.2 points he was
fifth and achieved his best result since January.
Best Austrian was Michael Hayboeck, who scored 247.6
points for his jumps on 121.5 m and 128.5 m. Jakub
Janda finished seventh, his second-best result this
season, with 122 m and 125 m. Noriaki Kasai was
not completely satisfied with his eighth place (243.6
points). He probably lost his final chance to fight
for the overall title this season. Stefan Kraft
(241.3 points) and Gregor Schlierenzauer (240.4
points) completed the Top 10. The fight for the
crystal bowl is also over for the record World Cup
winner.
Germans with improved performance
The German team showed some improvement in Kuopio.
While Severin Freund is on cloud nine since he won
the team Gold in Sochi, his teammates were struggeling
with their shape recently. Andreas Wellinger in
11th and Marinus Kraus in 16th achieved a good result
this time, Richard Freitag was 26th and qualified
for the final round for the first time since the
Olympic Games.
Larinto lost chance on a top result
After the first round the Finnish fans could hope
for something big. Ville Larinto was third with
a great jump on 129 m. In the final he couldn't
keep his cool and with only 108 m he came in 21st.
So Anssi Koivuranta was once again the best Finn,
this time in 13th, Lauri Asikainen completed the
still good result for the hosts in 17th. Besides
Jakub Janda, three more Czech jumpers qualified
for the final round. Jan Matura and Roman Koudelka,
19th and 20th, and Antonin Hajek in 25th could score
some points and gain self confidence.
Watase suffers concussion
It was a pretty bad day for the jumpers of Japan.
Yuta Watase fell in the first round and suffered
a concussion, Reruhi Shimizu was only 22nd. Taku
Takeuchi had problems qualifying for the final round
and was 29th. Alexey Romashov (28th) was the only
Russian who could score points.
In the overall World Cup Kamil Stoch now has a lead
of 103 points over Prevc, Severin Freund is third,
141 points behind the Slovene. His chances on winning
the overall title are only theoretical. The Nordic
Tour will continue already on Friday in Trondheim,
it will conclude with the competition in Oslo on
Sunday.
