What a Polish showing in Bischofshofen! Great news ahead of the Four Hills final

Fans have been waiting for this! The Poles finally moved into contention for top places. In Bischofshofen as many as three White-and‑Red athletes reached the top 20 in qualification. 14th place for Kacper Tomasiak is not surprising, but Maciej Kot’s result was a complete shock and helped him avoid facing the favourites. The qualification round determined in which KO pairs the athletes will start in the holiday competition concluding the Four Hills Tournament.

After a big mishap by Kamil Stoch in Innsbruck and problems related to the controversial disqualification of Paweł Wąsek, moods among Polish fans were mixed. In the end many found joy in the performance of Kacper Tomasiak after the older team members’ failures.

In training on the Paul Ausserleitner hill the 18‑year‑old proved he has stable form. Looking at what had happened earlier with the other squad members, it was however surprising that he was not once the best Pole — Stoch beat him in training with jumps of 133.5 and 128 m.

Great jump from Maciej Kot! And that’s not the end of the good news

Fans hoped the 38‑year‑old would repeat his opening attempt and again jump into the top 10. That would have helped him avoid potentially stronger rivals in the KO pairing system. He ultimately flew to 130 metres, a very decent result giving reason for optimism. Stoch finished in 18th place.

This time he was not the best Pole. That honour once again belonged to Kacper Tomasiak: the teenager’s 130.5 m earned him 14th place.

Maciej Kot was a very pleasant surprise. The 34‑year‑old flew 130.5 m and took a high 16th place, giving hope that he can win his head‑to‑head on Tuesday. A further point of interest is that the 34‑year‑old has a higher score than Stoch, who earlier on this hill had looked noticeably better.

Also, in qualification Dawid Kubacki for the first time in the event exceeded the 120 m mark in the qualifying round; he landed two metres further, which gave him 32nd place.

After training, fans did not know what to make of Wąsek, who placed 21st and 49th in training with jumps of 127 and 114.5 m. In qualification he averaged those attempts and this time reached 122.5 m. That was enough for 35th place.

Those results mean we will see as many as two “Polish” KO pairs in the first round of the competition. Kubacki will face Stoch, and Wąsek will fight Kot for advancement to the final. Tomasiak will meet Italy’s Alex Insam. Remember that losers in the KO pairs still have a chance to advance to the top 30 as five ‘lucky losers’.

Qualification was won by Domen Prevc. The Slovenian flew 140 m and was ahead of three Austrians: second‑placed Stephan Embacher (138 m), Jan Hoerl (137 m) and Daniel Tschofenig (133.5 m).

The competition concluding the Four Hills Tournament traditionally takes place on Epiphany. The first round will start at 16:30.

Poles’ results:

• 14. Kacper Tomasiak — 130.5 m • 16. Maciej Kot — 130.5 m • 18. Kamil Stoch — 130 m • 32. Dawid Kubacki — 122 m • 35. Paweł Wąsek — 122.5 m

Schedule for Bischofshofen:

Tuesday, 6 January:

• 15:00 official trial round • 16:30 Four Hills Tournament individual competition

Source: Przegląd Sportowy Onet