Tande, who has won three World Cup medals so far this season, performed a jump of 216.5 metres on Kulm-hill in the Austrian town of Bad Mitterndorf to earn himself 187.4 points, putting him top of the rankings with compatriot Sjernen one metre behind with a jump of 215.5m, giving him 185.5 points.

Jernej Damjan, of Slovenia, recorded the third-best points total of the day with 185.1.

Home athlete and defending World Cup champion Stefan Kraft was fourth with 185.0 points

Poland’s Kamil Stoch, who currently tops the overall rankings on 723 points after securing the gold medal in each of the last five FIS Ski Jumping World Cup events, was down in 16^th position, after scoring a modest 69.4 points.

However, he is likely to be among the top contenders when the World Cup racing gets underway tomorrow.

This round of the women’s Ski Jumping World Cup event is taking place in Sapporo, Japan, which is among the cities considering a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Home athlete Sara Takanashi recorded the top qualifying result of the day with a jump of 95m, giving her 126.3 points.

Takanashi, who has won bronze in her last three World Cup events, finished ahead of Germany's Katharina Althaus, the current overall rankings leader and Maren Lundby, of Norway, who secured 123.2 and 121.6 points, respectively.

The World Cup racing in both the men’s and women’s ski jumping events gets underway tomorrow.