Strong Polish jumpers convince in Klingenthal-quali
Oct 04, 2019·Ski Jumping
Dawid Kubacki (POL) won the final qualification of the FIS Grand Prix 2019 on Friday evening. The reigning normal hill World Champion finished first in Klingenthal with a jump of 139.5 m (133.5 points), his teammate Jakub Wolny (142 m; 133.2 points) and Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi (138.5 m; 129.5 points) followed in second and third.
In continuous rain and cold temperatures of only 7°C, the fans in the Vogtland-Arena of Klingenthal saw an exciting qualification. For a long time, it seemed as if Jakub Wolny would be the winner, but then Kubacki claimed the first place with the second-to-last jump of the qualification round.
After today's result, Kubacki is now also the top favorite for Saturday's competition (start at 4 pm CET) and also in the fight for the overall title of the FIS Grand Prix 2019. Yukiya Sato of Japan, the current overall leader, came in on a good fourth place today, but with the same result tomorrow, Kubacki would be the overall champion of the Grand Prix.
Sato has a lead of 10 points over Kubacki right now, so it will definitely be an exciting final competition on Saturday in Klingenthal.
Slovenia's Domen Prevc, who won both COC competitions on the HS 140 in Klingenthal last weekend, also presented himself strong today and finished fifth. Robert Johansson was the best Norwegian in sixth, local hero Richard Freitag was the best of the German team in seventh.
With Piotr Zyla in eighth, Maciej Kot in tenth and Kamil Stoch in 13th, the Poles once again proved that they are an extremely strong team. Klemens Muranka also easily qualified in 15th.
Stephan Leyhe (18th), Karl Geiger (22nd) and Markus Eisenbichler (34th) had no problems to make the cut either.
Out of the field of 66 competitors, some well-known names failed to qualify for tomorrow's competition. Among them were Canada's Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes, who was on the podium twice in the COC in Klingenthal a week ago, Japan's Junshiro Kobayashi and the two Austrians Jan Hoerl and Clemens Aigner.
The Grand Prix 2019 ends with the final competition of this summer season on Saturday at 4 pm CET.
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