SKI JUMPING WORLD CUP. Andreas Kofler fought back. The Austrian won the second competition in Sapporo on Sunday, after the narrowly missed the podium in Saturday's event. With 232.9 points he celebrated a clear victory ahead of Severin Freund from Germany.

Andreas Kofler of Austria soars in the air during the second round of jumps on the Okurayama hill in the men's individual large hill event at a World Cup ski jump in Sapporo, Japan, on Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011. Kofler took his third World Cup victory of the season on Sunday. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

"It was great winning here today, so the long trip to Japan now really paid off. I managed to concentrate on my jumping and the technique and not on the difficult weather conditions. Of course I know that I also had some luck on my side. That was not always the case here in Sapporo, but today it worked well for me", said Kofler.

Great weekend for Freund

After his sensational victory on Saturday, the German finished second today and with 224.7 points he was able to beat World Cup leader Thomas Morgenstern who came in third with 222.4 points. The fourth place went to Jan Matura from the Czech Republic.

"I didn't expect that I would score 180 points here in Sapporo. It was a very successful weekend for me and I really enjoyed it. My second jump was not that good today, I had some problems over the knoll. That's why I'm happy about this second place", told Freund.

No Japanese in the Top Ten

With the longest jump of the day on 136.5 m in the final round, Morgenstern could move up from 13th to third. "It was a difficult competition, but just like yesterday I had a lot of fun. The conditions were a bit turbulent during my first jump and I also made a small mistake. Because of my mental and physical development I can very consistent at the moment. But I always keep on working to improve", said the 4-Hills-Tournament winner.

Good result for the Czech team

Adam Malysz from Poland was fifth, ahead of the second best Czech Roman Koudelka. A really good result for the team of head coach David Jiroutek.

Manuel Fettner from Austria was seventh, followed by Swiss Simon Ammann, for whom Japan was not really worth the trip. Michael Uhrmann and Norwegian Ole Marius Ingvaldsen completed the Top 10.

For the Japanese team the weekend in Sapporo ended without a Top 10 result. Shohei Tochimoto was the best of the hosts as 13th. Kazuyoshi Funaki showed as 16th that he is still competitive at age 35.

Points for Frenette

Peter Frenette could score the first World Cup points of the season for the USA with a very good 18th place. Dimitri Vassiliev also scored some points for Russia on Sunday as 28th.

With 1223 points Morgenstern has a gigantic lead in the overall World Cup. Kofler is second with 771 points, Simon Amman third (753 points).

FISskijumping.com
16.01.2011 04:07