Freund soars to victory in Willingen

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Severin Freund collected his third FIS Ski Jumping World Cup win of the season with victory on the HS145 hill in Willingen.

The German took an early lead in front of an expectant home crowd with a first-round jump worth 138 points, and he sealed success with an overall score of 270.3.

Freund soared 149.5 metres on his first attempt – the longest of the day – and secured top spot on the podium by one point from Rune Velta.

Velta moved himself up from third after the first jump to take second with the highest single score of the final round (136.1), but it was just shy of overtaking Freund.

Roman Koudelka completed the top three thanks to a 139m second jump, although his rise to the podium was also aided by Stefan Kraft's disappointing final attempt.

That saw the World Cup leader drop to sixth having been second behind Freund early on, with Peter Prevc and Anders Fannemel also finishing above him.

Kraft maintains his overall lead in the standings, but Prevc has closed the gap to 29 points, while Freund climbs into fourth.

He moves ahead of Michael Haybock, who could only muster an 18th-place finish, with Koudelka also going above the Austrian into third.

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