Kraft all but secures crystal globe

The Austrian, who has already won the world championship double this season, won the HS225 flying hill in Planica with efforts of 243m and 240.5m, to take the victory ahead of Germany's Andreas Wellinger.

Kraft now leads the overall standings by 86 points with just one event to go, a second run down the Planica flying hill on Sunday, with Poland's Kamil Stoch his closest contender.

The 29-year-old could only manage fifth on Friday, all but gifting the overall crown to his Austrian rival, as he finished 38.1 points behind him after jumps of 229.5 and 227m.

Wellinger, fourth in the overall standings, took silver on the day with two efforts of 235m, while his fellow German Markus Eisenbichler grabbed bronze.

The German jumped out to 243.5m and 236m, but his form was judged to be worse and subsequently finished with only 461.8 points, compared to Wellinger's 480.4 and Kraft's 490.2

The season concludes on Sunday with the final event, another HS225 competition in Planica. Sportsbeat 2017