Germany’s ski jumpers continue to be in good shape. All DSV starters qualified for the World Cup jumping in Engelberg on Saturday, Pius Paschke impressed again.
Germany’s ski jumpers will compete in full strength at the World Cup in Engelberg on Saturday. All seven athletes from the German Ski Association (DSV) were able to secure places in the top 50 in the qualification on Friday evening in Switzerland.
The Upper Bavarian Pius Paschke once again proved to be the strongest in national coach Stefan Horngacher’s team. The World Cup leader Paschke came fifth on Friday evening (December 20, 2024) with a jump of 133.5 meters in a strong tailwind (161.4 points), he was only a few tenths of a point away from third place.
Austrian Tschofenig wins ahead of Forfang
His worst opponent in the World Cup, the Austrian Daniel Tschofenig (170.9 points), won ahead of the surprisingly strong Norwegian Johann Andre Forfang with 170.2 points and ahead of the equally surprisingly strong American Kevin Bickner (161.9 points).
Part of this was due to the tailwind conditions, which hit the strongest jumpers a little harder. But Tschofenig didn’t mind. Unlike Austria’s model jumper Stefan Kraft: He barely qualified in 44th place in the competition.
Andreas Wellinger defies strong tailwinds
The second best German on Friday was Andreas Wellinger, who jumped to sixth place despite also very poor conditions and therefore more wind bonus points. With almost 2.5 meters of tailwind, he ended up at 126.5 meters (160.0 points), which really impressed Wellinger. He hadn’t been so confident in the training jumps.
“The tailwind has increased again – and it feels really bad in the air. It was definitely my best jump. I’m happy with the process over the three jumps today.”he said in the Sportschau interview. “The focus is on developing consistency. There are too many ups and downs.”
Leyhe surprisingly strong, Eisenbichler with a moment of shock
Stephan Leyhe, who seems to be becoming more and more confident after a difficult start to the season, also qualified with amazing confidence. His flight to 134 meters brought him up to eleventh place (155.4 points). Karl Geiger came in 23rd (148.9 points).
Markus Eisenbichler experienced a little moment of shock after the jump; he had to row with his left arm – but in the end he still came in 28th thanks to a 132-meter jump. “I came out a little unbalanced”he analyzed in the Sportschau interview. He almost had it “left in the face”he could now add with a smile. “Everything went well. I still have to adjust a few things, but it’ll be okay.”
Raimund and Tittel were also happy with the competition
Philipp Raimund (29th) from Oberstdorf was similarly satisfied, finishing one place behind Eisenbichler. “It’s definitely getting better. The training in Titisee was really good for me. Things are also going better overall with the new skis.” He now hopes that he can also show his training jumps in competition.
Qualification was closest for newcomer Adrian Tittel, who came 37th. The 20-year-old Saxon ultimately secured his place for Saturday with 141.5 points. “It was significantly better than in training, so we can continue like this.”said Tittel at the Sportschau microphone.