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OBERSTDORF, Germany (AP) — Stefan Kraft of Austria won the opening event of ski jumping's Four Hills tour on Monday after it was postponed for a day because of bad weather conditions.
Kraft soared 136.5 meters for the first-round lead and held his nerve with a jump of 129 in the second. He finished with 291.9 points, 6.9 more than compatriot Michael Hayboeck, who jumped 137.5 and 132.5 meters.
Hayboeck took the overall World Cup lead by one point from Norway's Anders Fannemel, who placed sixth with 270.7 points
Slovenia's Peter Prevc was third, with jumps of 139.5 and 125.5 meters for 283.9 points.
Four-time Olympic champion Simon Ammann failed to qualify for the final round, while two-time Four Hills winner Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria could only finish 17th.
Local favorite Severin Freund was the best placed German in 13th, leaving home fans disappointed.
"We had a catastrophic World Cup and failed miserably today," German team coach Werner Schuster said. "I couldn't imagine in my wildest dreams that our top people would jump so badly. Sport keeps writing new stories."
The traditional holiday-season Four Hills tournament next moves to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, with a competition on Thursday.
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