Andreas Wellinger clearly lost the last showdown before the big showdown for victory in the Four Hills Tournament against his big opponent Ryoyu Kobayashi and showed unusual weaknesses in the qualification for Bischofshofen.
The Olympic champion only came in ninth place with 128.0 m (144.3 points).
Tour leader Kobayashi (Japan) flew ten meters further than his German pursuer with 138.0 (162.6) and confidently won the preliminary round ahead of World Cup leader Stefan Kraft from Austria (154.8).
Before the last competition on Saturday (4:30 p.m./ARD and Eurosport), the two-time tour champion Kobayashi leads Wellinger with 4.8 points, the equivalent of 2.67 m.
Pius Paschke (Kiefersfelden) was the second best German with 14th place and 127.5 m in poorer conditions. Karl Geiger (Oberstdorf) showed a slight improvement compared to the third competition in Innsbruck and came 17th with 129.5 m.
Former tour bronze medalist Stephan Leyhe (Willingen) landed in 18th place with 128.5 m. Philipp Raimund (Oberstdorf) made it into the top 50 competition in 40th place despite a weak jump of 122.0 m.