SKI JUMPING. The way of Anders Bardal leads to the top this season. And after he was second in Lillehammer and third in Harrachov now he landed on top of the podium. In Engelberg, the Norwegian celebrated his second victory in the World Cup after his triumph in Zakopane in January 2008.

With a great jump on 133 m the 29-year-old moved up from second to first in the final. Gregor Schlierenzauer, the leader after the first round, fell and finished only eleventh. Bardal thanked the organizers afterwards for the effort to provide fair conditions. “The organizers did a good job today and kept the track clean. I personally like these conditions, they suit me just fine. The victory today means that my preparations in summer were very effective and that Alexander Stoeckl and the team are on the right way. My teammates are also showing very good jumps at the moment, so the atmosphere is quite positive right now. I know that the winner of the competition at Engelberg is always also a favorite for the 4-Hills-Tournament but at the moment I am just happy about my stable jumps and the good results", said the Norwegian.

Schlierenzauer in the hospital for a checkup

After his fall Schlierenzauer was able to walk out of the outrun without help, but the 21-year-old was taken to the hospital for a medical check.

With 266.2 points Bardal won ahead of surprisingly strong Martin Koch (258.1 points) and Thomas Morgenstern. Koch is already the fourth Austrian jumper who achieved a podium result in the World Cup this season. “As a skijumper, you should be used to snow. There were no problems with the ice track today, it was in a perfect condition. I knew that I managed to improve a lot during the last few days but I didn't expect the second place today. I am very happy about it and already looking forward to tomorrow's competition where I would like to jump as well as today", said Koch. And his teammate Morgenstern told: “I always like to come to Engelberg, the hill suits me. It was a difficult competition today but luckily it ended well for our team. My first jump wasn't that good, I didn't have enough height and air underneath my skis. The second one was considerably better, so I am quite satisfied with my result. Tomorrow, I would like to eliminate the mistakes I made today.”

Hilde completes very good result for Norway

The great result for the Austrian team was completed by Andreas Kofler as fourth, followed by the best German Severin Freund as fifth. Tom Hilde was sixth and also proved that the Norwegians did a good job in training recently.

Roman Koudelka, the Czech who fell in Harrachov last weekend, finished seventh and achieved another Top 10 result. And that only a few days after he left the hospital. What a fighter. Jurij Tepes achieved his best result of the season as eighth. The Slovenian team always has an athlete who is good for a Top 10 finish - reespect.

Also Simon Ammann was in the Top 10. His performance is not good enough yet for the top, but the performance is getting more and more consistent. It might well be that the Swiss is in his top shape again right on time for the 4-Hills-Tournament. Denis Kornilov was tenth and will also be satisfied.

And heavy snowfall, Germany's shooting star Richard Freitag came in 17th. His teammate Stephan Hocke was on a good 19th place in his first competition this winter. The Japanese and the Finns didn't have a good day in Engelberg. Junshiro Kobayashi was the best from Japan as 22nd, Janne Happonen was 27th and the only Finn who could score points.

Famous names not in the final

Some famous names could not qualify for the final round in the snowfall in Switzerland. Bjoern Einar Romoeren, Matti Hautamaeki, Daiki Ito, Michael Neumayer, Peter Prevc, Stefan Hula, Andrea Morassi, David Zauner, almost no team got through without problems. But that also shows how close it is in the field of the world's best ski jumpers.

Kolfer is still leading in the overall World cup with 408 points, Bardal is now second with 330 points. Schlierenzauer is third, followed by Freitag.

FISskijumping.com
17.12.2011, 15:47

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