Markus Eisenbichler has won the qualification for the third World Cup ski jumping event of the Olympic season. The 26-year-old flew in the Russian Nizhny Tagil to 133.5 m and thus delivered a strong dress rehearsal for the competition on Saturday (from 16.15 in the LIVETICKER).
After Eisenbichler, who prevailed over the overall World Cup leader Junshiro Kobayashi in the absence of the best Japanese ski jump record holder Johann Andre Forfang (132.0 m) ahead of the Norwegian record holder Johann Andre Forfang (132.0 m), the other DSV eagles on Tramplin Stork were also in top shape, with surprise Pius Paschke (Kiefersfelden) third (132.5), Richard Freitag (A) and the other DSV eagles in third place.
Karl Geiger (Oberstdorf) also qualified sovereignly as eleventh (131.5 m) and Stephan Leyhe (Willingen) in twelfth place (131.0). As in the previous week, David Siegel (Baiersbronn) was the only German as 59th (117.5 m) to fall by the wayside in Kuusamo. The German champion of 2016 is in danger of being transferred back to the Continental Cup.
Two of the previous four World Cup jumping competitions on the hill in the Urals had won 2014 and 2015 former World Champion Severin Freund, who missed out on the Olympic season because of a torn cruciate ligament. On Sunday (16.00 hrs CET/ZDF and Eurosport) another individual competition will take place in Nischni Tagil, the qualification will be held immediately before.