Timi Zajc the best in the qualification
Nov 29, 2019·Ski Jumping
Slovenia's Timi Zajc won the first qualification in Ruka with a jump of 139 m and 138.5 points. Norwegian Robert Johansson (136.2 points) and Germany's Karl Geiger (135.8 points) followed in second and third.
After this qualification in wintery conditions, it now became a bit clearer who will be among the top contenders during the course of this winter than it was after the weekend in Wisla. Besides the three athletes on today's podium, Stefan Kraft of Austria (4th) and the Japanese Junshiro Kobayashi (5th), Daiki Ito (6th) and Ryoyu Kobayashi (8th) showed convincing performances. And also Poland's Jakub Wolny (7th) and Austria's Jan Hoerl (9th), who were the best of his team in Wisla in 12th, did really well.
Karl Geiger is definitely the "man of the hour" in the German team. He is in top shape and has a good chance to achieve top results or maybe even win in the competitions near the Arctic Circle.
Daniel Andre Tande, who won in Wisla, was the last to jump in today's qualification as the current overall World Cup leader and he made it exciting again in the end. Tande already landed at 108.5 m and closely made the cut for Saturday's competition in 43rd.
It wasn't a good day at all for Markus Eisenbichler. The World Champion has an unfortunate start into this winter season. Last weekend, Eisenbichler jumped on 73 m in difficult conditions and had no chance to qualify for the final round. In Ruka, things were looking good for the Bavarian at first. 143 m in the first training round, a great jump. But then he crashed in the qualification. Eisenbichler walked out of the outrun without any obvious injuries, but he was taken to the hospital for further examinations. It's not sure yet, whether he will be able to jump on Saturday and Sunday.
The competition on Saturday starts at 4:30 pm CET.
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