Kobayashi claims 4th straight World Cup victory
INNSBRUCK, Jan 5, 2019, Kyodo News. Ryoyu Kobayashi won his fourth World Cup title in a row on Friday, becoming the first-ever Japanese male to reach the milestone, after victory at the the Four Hills Tournament in Innsbruck, Austria, reported the Kyodo News.
He landed jumps of 136.5 and 131 meters on the large hill to win his third straight Four Hills event with 267.0 points. The victory, his seventh on this season’s circuit, surpassed Noriaki Kasai’s record of six World Cup wins by a Japanese athlete in a single season.
“I am happy that I was able to have a terrific jump. I hope I can do my jump in Bischofshofen and score an overall victory,” the 22-year-old Kobayashi said, referring to the final event of the tournament to be held this weekend.
Kobayashi is on course to become the first Japanese overall champion at the Four Hills Tournament since Kazuyoshi Funaki achieved the feat in 1997-1998.
Stefan Kraft of Austria took second with jumps of 129.5 and 130.5 meters for 254.2 points, while Norway’s Andreas Stjernen was third with 242.7 points after jumps of 131 and 126 meters.
Among other Japanese, Yukiya Sato finished sixth, Daiki Ito was 15th and Kobayashi’s elder brother Junshiro was 26th.
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