Four Hills Tournament

Widhölzl: “He is certainly still the favorite”

Andi Widhölzl

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Austria's ski jumpers have given themselves a present with a triple victory just before Christmas. Thanks to the successful dress rehearsal in Engelberg, the ÖSV eagles are traveling to the 73rd Four Hills Tournament with plenty of momentum. But for head coach Andreas Widhölzl, the German Pius Paschke is the favorite!

Stefan Kraft, Daniel Tschofenig and Jan Hörl travel to the Four Hills Tournament after a short breather with their families with plenty of momentum. The red-white-red trio are aiming for their first Austrian tour victory in ten years at the ski jumping spectacle around the turn of the year.

Daniel Tschofenig and Jan Hörl

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Widhölzl also gave his protégés some homework to do over the Christmas holidays. "Don't rest on your laurels, things will soon be moving on again," emphasized the 1999/2000 tour winner, adding that a "bit of a rest" before the next stressful phase was certainly in order. 

"The starting situation is very positive, we are in a good position," said the 48-year-old Tyrolean. Florian Liegl took a sober view of the situation. "What has happened so far is very positive. But it's no guarantee that we'll pick something up at the tour," added the sporting director of the ski jumpers in the ÖSV. On Friday, the ÖSV team will travel to their accommodation in Kleinwalsertal before qualifying for the opening competition on Sunday (4.30 pm) in the Allgäu on Saturday.

Pius Paschke

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Paschke in the role of favorite
However, Widhölzl does not see his high-flyers in the role of favorites, especially as Pius Paschke continues to wear the yellow jersey after a weaker weekend in Switzerland with 10th and 18th places. "That doesn't mean he's having a form crisis. He is certainly still the favorite as the overall World Cup leader. But we are in the hunter's role and feel comfortable with that," said Widhölzl.

Kraft sees it similarly, identifying the difficult conditions in Engelberg with heavy snowfall as the reason for the shorter jumps of the Upper Bavarian. "It was different, the track was slower. Even if he has weakened, he is already strong," said the 31-year-old from Salzburg about the dominator of the season so far. For Tschofenig, Paschke is also the top favorite. "Pius is ahead in the overall World Cup and has been more consistent than us so far. We can chase him a bit. He will be the one to beat," said the Carinthian.

Stefan Kraft

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Austria's duel with Germany
In front of full crowds in Oberstdorf, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Innsbruck and Bischofshofen, there are signs of an exciting international battle between the two co-hosts. All ten victories so far this season have gone to either Germany (5x Paschke, 1x Andreas Wellinger) or Austria (2x Hörl and Tschofenig each). Both nations have long been longing for a liberating blow at the Tournament; the last German winner to date was Sven Hannawald in 2001/02.

Ryoyu Kobayashi

(Bild: GEPA, APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

Defending champion Ryoyu Kobayashi, on the other hand, is lagging behind his form; the Japanese has yet to achieve a top ten result this season. Tschofenig warns: "You should never write off Kobayashi in the tour, he's always strong there and he's been in better form recently," said the 22-year-old. "There are a lot of people who can be there at the drop of a hat, a lot can happen in the one week break. And when someone gets into the flow, things can happen quickly." For Hörl, Switzerland's Gregor Deschwanden and Norway's Johann Andre Forfang are also among the favorites.