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DPA
Oberstdorf (Germany)
Defending champion Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan got off to a winning start in the Four Hills ski jumping tournament by capturing the first of the four-stage event in Oberstdorf on Sunday.
Kobayashi had jumps of 138 and and 134 metres for 305.1 points to take the first stage ahead of local favourite Karl Geiger of Germany and Dawid Kubacki of Poland.
A crowd of 25,500 on the Schattenberg hill helped lift Geiger to jumps of 135 and 134 metres for 295.9 points.
But Geiger was no match for 23-year Kobayachi, who enjoyed a clean sweep of the Four Hills a year ago and has now won five stages in a row, a feat only previously achieved by Helmut Recknagel of former East Germany, Sven Hannawald of Germany and Poland’s Kamil Stoch.
“They were two good jumps and I am really happy,” Geiger said. “The atmosphere was awesome, it was really cool.” Kubacki kept Austria’s Stefan Kraft, one of the tournament favourites, off the podium with jumps of 132 and 133 metres for 294.7 points.
The tournament continues on Wednesday at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany with the New Year’s Day jump, before moving to the Austrian venues of Innsbruck on Saturday and Bischofshofen on Monday January 6.
In Lenzerheide, Switzerland, Slovenia’s Anamarija Lampic edged Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla in a photo finish to win the women’s sprint on the second stage of cross-country skiing’s Tour de Ski.
Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia was third, 0.47 seconds behind Lampic to don the yellow bib as overall leader.
Last season’s Tour de Ski winner Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway triumphed in the men’s sprint final, ahead of Italy’s Federico Pellegrino and France’s Richard Joueve.
Klaebo, who was second in Saturday’s 15km behind Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov, now leads the men’s overall standings as the seven-stage Tour moves to the Italian venue Dobbiaco on Wednesday with women’s 10km and men’s 15km races.
The event concludes with the final climb stage in Val di Fiemme, Italy next Sunday.
Oberstdorf (Germany)
Defending champion Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan got off to a winning start in the Four Hills ski jumping tournament by capturing the first of the four-stage event in Oberstdorf on Sunday.
Kobayashi had jumps of 138 and and 134 metres for 305.1 points to take the first stage ahead of local favourite Karl Geiger of Germany and Dawid Kubacki of Poland.
A crowd of 25,500 on the Schattenberg hill helped lift Geiger to jumps of 135 and 134 metres for 295.9 points.
But Geiger was no match for 23-year Kobayachi, who enjoyed a clean sweep of the Four Hills a year ago and has now won five stages in a row, a feat only previously achieved by Helmut Recknagel of former East Germany, Sven Hannawald of Germany and Poland’s Kamil Stoch.
“They were two good jumps and I am really happy,” Geiger said. “The atmosphere was awesome, it was really cool.” Kubacki kept Austria’s Stefan Kraft, one of the tournament favourites, off the podium with jumps of 132 and 133 metres for 294.7 points.
The tournament continues on Wednesday at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany with the New Year’s Day jump, before moving to the Austrian venues of Innsbruck on Saturday and Bischofshofen on Monday January 6.
In Lenzerheide, Switzerland, Slovenia’s Anamarija Lampic edged Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla in a photo finish to win the women’s sprint on the second stage of cross-country skiing’s Tour de Ski.
Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia was third, 0.47 seconds behind Lampic to don the yellow bib as overall leader.
Last season’s Tour de Ski winner Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway triumphed in the men’s sprint final, ahead of Italy’s Federico Pellegrino and France’s Richard Joueve.
Klaebo, who was second in Saturday’s 15km behind Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov, now leads the men’s overall standings as the seven-stage Tour moves to the Italian venue Dobbiaco on Wednesday with women’s 10km and men’s 15km races.
The event concludes with the final climb stage in Val di Fiemme, Italy next Sunday.
