Ryoyu Kobayashi keeps ski jumping World Cup hopes alive with narrow victory over Peter Prevc in Trondheim

Ryoyu Kobayashi kept his hopes of winning the ski jumping World Cup crown alive as he set a new hill record on his way to victory in Trondheim.

The Japanese edged to victory on the normal hill with a narrow 0.9 point lead over Peter Prevc, setting a new hill record with a first round jump of 106 metres.

Kobayashi led Prevc by just 0.3 points at the halfway stage, but he was able to secure victory thanks to a leap of 99 metres in the second round to finish on 280.9 points.

Jan Hoerl completed the podium, finishing just 1.9 points back from Kobayashi, while fellow Austrian Stefan Kraft was back in fifth.

That result keeps Kraft still comfortably clear at the top of the standings, 221 points clear of Kobayashi with five events still remaining, including Wednesday’s large hill in Trondheim.

On the women’s side, Eirin Maria Kvandal made it back-to-back wins by a very tight triumph over Eva Pinkelnig.

The Norwegian has been the standout performer in the raw air, and followed up a third-place finish and a win in Oslo with victory in Trondheim.

Sitting second after the first round, Kvandal leapt 98.5 metres in the second to go top of the standings, beating Pinkelnig by 0.6 points.

Nika Kriznar was just 0.2 points further back in third, having led after the first round.

Kvandal extends her lead in the raw air standings, while Pinkelnig continues to put the pressure on Nika Prevc in the overall.

The Slovenian was just fifth, pipped by Alexandria Loutitt, who set a hill record of 101.5 metres in the second round.

Prevc now sits on 1270 points in the overall, 154 points clear of Pinkelnig ahead of the large hill tomorrow.