David Kubak and Halvor Egner Granerud battled for victory at TCS a year ago. In the current release, they perform much worse
“Last year we were on the podium together, this year we used the second series to catch up” – this is how Halvor Egner Granerud signed the photo taken during the final round of the New Year competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Saw him talking to David Kubaki. The first and second competitors in previous editions of the Four Hills tournament did not make it to the top thirty in Ga-Pa this year.
A year ago, the Four Hills tournament featured a rivalry between Kubak and Granerud. The first two competitions, in Oberstdorf and Ga-Pa, were won by the Norwegian, and the Polish jumper finished on the lowest step of the podium in both cases. In the third competition, in Innsbruck, our representative was the best, and Granerud took the second place. In the final event of the 71st TCS in Bischofshofen, the Norwegian competitor won again, thus sealing the triumph in the entire German-Austrian series. Kubaki finished him in second place.
1. Lanisek is the best in Garmisch-Partenkirchen! distant places of the Poles
In the current 72nd edition of TCS, both the title players are doing much worse. A few days ago in Oberstdorf, after a decent qualification (16th place), Granerud made a terrible jump in the competition and was only 48th. Kubak, unlike the Norwegian, entered the second series, but he also had no reason to be satisfied – he finished the competition in 27th place.
In the New Year's competition at Ga-Pa, the previous top two TCS jumpers again disappointed. Granerud lost a KO fight to Kamil Stoch and Kubaki lost to Johan Andre Forfang. Both of them didn't show a good enough jump to be among the five lucky losers and get a rest in the final round. Last year's TCS winner finished the competition in 31st place, our representative in 33rd place.
Interestingly, the Pole and the Norwegian watched the second series of the competition together at the Grosse Olympiaschanze and used this time to talk. This can be seen in the photo that Granerud posted on his Instagram profile. It shows the Norwegian footballer in front of the Polish national team booth on the Groß Olimpiaschanze, talking to Kubak standing in the window of the room.
“Times are changing. Last year we were on the podium together, this year we used the second series to catch up,” wrote the best jumper of the previous season of the World Championship. “I hope the rest of 2024 will be better for both of us,” he added after the New Year's competition.
The current leader of TCS is Andreas Wellinger. The German is ahead of the Japanese Ryoyu Kobayashi by 1.8 points. The next competition of the series will be held on January 3 in Innsbruck.
GW, Polsat Sport
