Kobayashi wins third consecutive World Cup event

The Japanese jumper scored 266.6 points for his two leaps in Germany as he snuck past home favourite Markus Eisenbichler, who finished second on 264.7 points.

It means Kobayshi has won three World Cup events in a row and now sits well clear of his nearest rival Piotr Zyla, of Poland, at the top of the standings with 756 points.

In Germany, it was Poland's Dawid Kubacki, who topped the rankings in the qualifying round with a jump of 135.5 metres, who rounded off the podium – but he finished well behind the top two with 256.2 points.

His compatriot Kamil Stoch, who is now third in the World Cup rankings, finished sixth with 249.2 points just behind fourth-placed Roman Koudelka (253.8 points) and Junshiro Kobayashi (249.4 points).

Sportsbeat 2019