Andreas Wellinger finished the qualification in Bischofshofen in ninth place. Overall leader Ryuyo Kobayashi won. All other DSV eagles will also be there on Epiphany.
If the dress rehearsal fails, the performance will be even better. That should be Andreas Wellinger’s hope after qualifying for the last competition of the Four Hills Tournament. The Ruhpoldinger only came ninth in the qualification on the Paul-Außerleitner-Schanze in Bischofshofen. The 28-year-old acknowledged his jump of 128 meters (144.3) with a shake of his head.
Ryuyo Kobayashi, who could win the tour for the third time after 2019 and 2022, showed the longest jump of the evening with 138 meters (162.6 points). He won ahead of the Austrians Stefan Kraft (154.8) and Clemens Aigner (153.0).
All Germans qualified for the tour final
The other Germans also qualified for the final in Bischofshofen. Philipp Raimund showed the weakest jump. The man from SC Oberstdorf landed after just 122 meters and then commented meaningfully on his performance: “Wow, that’s bad,” he said to the cameras in the finish area. He came 40th. Stephan Leyhe came 18th with a distance of 128.5 meters.
Karl Geiger flew to 129.5 meters and finished the qualification in 17th place. It was an improvement for the Oberstdorfer, who was weak in Innsbruck. The second best German was Pius Paschke in 14th place (141.6).
Wellinger has to catch up by 2.67 meters
Wellinger goes into the last competition of the tour on Epiphany as a hunter. The Ruhpoldinger is 4.8 points behind the leading Japanese Ryuyo Kobyashi. That’s the equivalent of 2.67 meters, or about the length of a ski. Whether Wellinger will be able to achieve his first German tour victory after Sven Hannawald will be shown live on Saturday (January 6th) from 4.30 p.m. on ARD.