SKI JUMPING WORLD CUP. Some signs of life were shown in the qualification for the New Year's competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. After the bad result in Oberstdorf, the Norwegian team fought back and attracted attention with some very good jumps. Tom Hilde (133.5 m) reached the most points in the qualification (141.3 points), his teammate Anders Jacobsen had the longest jump with 137.5 m.

Владимир Зографски, ски скок Световна купа Енгелберг, 17-19.12.2010, фотография © flying-circus-forum.de

Also Adam Malysz is back again. The Pole, who lost almost all of his chances to win the Tournament in Oberstdorf, jumped 132 m worth 136.6 points. With that he shared the fourth place with four-time Olympic Champion Simon Ammann. Five Polish jumpers could qualify for the competition.
 
Pavel Karelin, the Russian who is jumping very strong this season, could also not do well in Oberstdorf. He showed a great jump on 135.5 m (136 points). Michael Uhrmann jumped only 0.5 m shorter (132.3 points) and was the best German. Michael Neumayer also had a good jump and was not far behind Uhrmann. "Now we can enjoy dinner and celebrate a little and then we'll attack in the new year", said Neumayer.
 
With jumps on 129.5 m and 131.5 m, the two Finns Anssi Koivuranta and Janne Ahonen showed that they always have to be reckoned with. Their fellow countrymen Matti Hautamaeki and Ville Larinto were also among the best and make Finland's head coach Pekka Niemelae dream of a good team result.
 
Morgenstern skipped qualification
 
The Austrians will most likely achieve that, because Andreas Kofler, Martin Koch, Manuel Fettner and Wolfgang Loitzl could also show some good jumps.
 
Thomas Morgenstern, the top favorite to win the 4-Hills-Tournament and the winner from Oberstdorf, did not take part in the qualification and so he will have to jump with bib 50 against today's best Tom Hilde in the competition. Sven Hannawald also skipped all qualification when he won in 2001/02 and jumped to the victory in all four competitions with bib 50.

Bulgarian talent with longest jump of the day
 
The longest jump of the day was shown by the newcomer of the season: Only 17-year-old Vladimir Zografski from Bulgaria. The athelte of coach Joachim Winterlich jumped on 141 m and earned recognition of coaches and journalists.
 
Bulgaria, a developing country when it comes to ski jumping, has a huge talent with Zografski. And he remains modest: "I want to end this season in the Top 30 of the overall World Cup", he told FISskijumping.com. On New Year's Day Zografski can show that he is already capable of beating a former 4-Hills-Tournament winner - he will jump against Czech Jakub Janda in the K.O. round.
 
The fans can look forward to seeing ten German jumpers in the competition. Daniel Wenig, Marinus Kraus and Felix Schoft could not qualify. The same fate is shared by both Italians. Sebastian Colloredo and Andrea Morassi failed to make the cut, just like Kalle Keituri and Dimitri Vassiliev. After his ACL rupture earlier this year, the focus of Vassiliev is already on the next season. With Pavel Karelin the Russian team does have a strong jumper.
 
The whole Czech team could qualify for the competition - all five jumpers of head coach David Jiroutek will fight for World Cup points on New Year's Day.

FISskijumping.com
31.12.2010 15:25