As eighth in the Innsbruck qualifying, Pius Paschke gives little hope for a winter miracle. The victory goes back to Austria.
Pius Paschke started the “away game” strongly, but the dominance from Austria was stronger again: With eighth place in the qualification, the veteran from Bavaria gave little hope of a “winter miracle” at the Four Hills Tournament at the first showdown in Innsbruck. But that was also the fault of the Austria Eagles, who shone again at their home Bergisel.
“That was okay, I’m quite happy with the day. We can build on that,” said Paschke after his jump of 124.5 m.
The problem: All five ski jumpers who are ahead of him in the overall ranking were also better on Friday. This was especially true for last year’s winner and local hero Jan Hörl, who sailed with more effort than Paschke to 135.0 m.
DSV Adler want to continue to “really step on the gas” at the Four Hills Tournament
National coach Stefan Horngacher was still hopeful: “We’re not giving up and will really step on the gas tomorrow. Pius is not that far away,” said the Austrian. The best German was Philipp Raimund in seventh place, Andreas Wellinger (17th), Karl Geiger (19th), Felix Hoffmann (22nd) and Adrian Tittel (31st) also qualified for the competition on Saturday (1:30 p.m./ARD and Eurosport).
But there were also others at the forefront at the third stop on the tour: Daniel Tschofenig (Austria), who was leading in the fight for the gold eagle, ended up in fifth place in front of 7,990 spectators, including a good half from Germany, directly behind second overall Stefan Kraft. Johann Andre Forfang (Norway/2nd) and Gregor Deschwanden (Switzerland/3rd) were better.
Paschke has to get past all five if he still wants to win the tour – a Herculean task. But he didn’t give up. “We’ll keep attacking,” said the five-time season winner after arriving in Austria. Teammate and Bayern fan Wellinger even drew a parallel to football. In the 2005 Champions League final against Milan, Liverpool FC “was also 3-0 down at halftime – and then won the title.”
Ski jumping: Pius Paschke’s weak Bergisel record
But Paschke seems far away from such a resurrection; the veteran also flew to 13th and 8th place in training and was therefore behind the direct competition.
The Bergisel is not exactly his favorite hill anyway: his best result there is 28th place, and a year ago he even missed the second round.
“I often found it difficult to get into the tour here. I often lacked energy in Innsbruck. But I feel much better this year,” said Paschke, who can also count on his fans on Saturday. “A few people come from the closest environment, and a lot from the region,” said the Kiefersfelden resident.
At least the “guest block” is well prepared for the away game.