Piotr Żyła was already out of the Ga-Pa competition. Then this happened

Simon Lozinski
31 December 2023, at 14:54

Piotr Żyła finished the year in terrible style. Despite his great conditions, he jumped a short distance and in poor style. He was on the verge of failure after qualifying at Ga-Pa, but was saved by the disqualification of the Slovenian. However, Stoch performed much better than Żyła.

It was not clear after training, because the three-time Olympic champion jumped briefly. However, he rallied himself to qualify and made a similar jump as in the second series in Oberstdorf. Such attempts by Kamil Stoč give hope that he will soon return to form and change the tragic situation in which Polish ski jumping currently finds itself.

In the qualifying rounds, Stoch reached 131 metres, which was the best between the Whites and the Reds and can calmly prepare for the New Year's competition in Ga-Pa. Piotr Żyła is located at the opposite end. The world champion almost watched the New Year's competition as a fan.

Just two weeks ago, Żyła seemed the closest among the Poles to regaining his form of last season. In Engelberg he showed some good jumps, but after Switzerland something bad happened to the world champion. Something difficult to explain. He already looked bad in Oberstdorf, and on Sunday in Ga-Ba it was even worse.

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Although the conditions were favorable for him in qualifying, Żyła achieved only 124.5 metres. Moreover, they were relegated poorly – not for the first time this season, and deservedly received low marks for style. It seems that the Pole will be the first jumper who will not qualify for Monday's competition…

After a while, Silla could breathe a sigh of relief. Domen Prevc has earned its place in the competition. The Slovenian jumped better than our representative, but a few minutes after his jump he was disqualified for wearing an illegal jumpsuit. Thus, Żyła will start in the new year, but with such jumps there is nothing to look for in the competition.

On New Year's Monday, Polish fans will congratulate our four compatriots. Aside from Stoch, Aleksander Znieszczol also deserved words of praise after the qualifying round. The entire day on the hill in Ga-Ba was a success for the 29-year-old. He was already the best Pole in both practice sessions and in qualifying – although he had some of the more difficult conditions in the group – but he did not disappoint and jumped 125.5 metres.

Davut Kubacki landed two metres, but in much better conditions. Maciej Kot and Paweł Wąsek made short jumps and these two will not participate in the competition.

Andreas Wellinger was out of reach of his rivals in training. In qualifying, the 72nd Four Hills Championship leader went even further. He reached a height of 139 metres, but had difficulty descending and had to take second place. Anze Lanisek was 1.5 points better than the German, even though he landed 5 metres.

Of the remaining favorites in the 72nd TCS race, Stefan Kraft finished sixth after a 132-metre attempt. Only 17th place was the competition's runner-up, Ryoyu Kobayashi, who landed at 128.5 metres.

The Ga-Pa New Year Competition starts at 2:00 PM. It is broadcast on Eurosport 1, TVN and Pilot WP.

[urlz=/skoki-narciarskie/1098809/oto-rywale-polakow-w-parach-na-drugi-konkurs-tcs]Stoch hit clash. Check out the pairings in the 2nd competition of the 72nd TCS
[/urlz]Ga-Pa qualifying results:

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