After victories in Wisla and in Bischofshofen last week, Daniel Huber, Daniel Tschofenig, Clemens Aigner and Jan Hörl were more than 20 points short of a podium finish in Zakopane on Saturday. In changing wind conditions, victory went to Slovenia, who held their ground in front of Germany and Japan and had a lead of more than 90 points on Austria.
In the ÖSV team, only Tschofenig was convincing in both rounds, while Bischofshofen winner Huber presented himself underwhelmingly. “I had an extremely difficult time today. That’s a pity, of course it also hurts to deliver such a performance in the team,” regretted the man from Salzburg, who identified problems in the crouch as the cause of his failed jumps.
Aigner, who was given preference over Manuel Fettner and Philipp Aschenwald, improved significantly in the final after a botched start. Goalkeeper Hörl also managed a better second jump, with which the Austrian quartet moved up from fifth intermediate place by one position just ahead of Norway to fourth place.
“There were just too many jumps that weren’t so good, you get too many points. We know we’re doing well, but there were just a few mistakes, that shouldn’t happen in the team competition,” analyzed the ÖSV head coach Andreas Widholzl and praised Tschofenig. Despite the unconvincing team performance, Widholzl is confident for the individual competition on Sunday. “I do believe that a good result will come out.”
Stefan Kraft is missing in Poland. After the disappointment at the Four Hills Tournament, the world champion dropped out before the additional World Cup in Bischofshofen in order to get in shape again for the Winter Games in Beijing. Before the high point of the season, there are still two stations on the program: Titisee-Neustadt and Willingen.
Source: Nachrichten
