Watabe leads Nordic combined large hill but Germans threaten

Pyeongchang, South Korea (dpa) - Japanlsquo;s World Cup leader Akito Watabe soared to first place in the Olympic Nordic combined large hill event on Tuesday but will have to hold off a German strike force in his bid for a first gold.Watabe, who has three major event silvers, soared 134 metres for a one-second lead over Norwaylsquo;s Jarl-Magnus Riiber and 16 seconds clear of Austrian Wilhelm Denifl ahead of the 10-kilometres cross country pursuit later in the evening.But the real danger lies in the German trio that follows the top three: twice normal hill gold medallist Eric Frenzel (24 seconds), four-time 2017 world champion Johannes Rydzek (31) and Fabian Riessle (34).Dangerous Finn Eero Hirvonen is also just 34 seconds back but Norway had a triple blow when 2014 winner Joergen Graabak, World Cup second-placed Jan Schmid and Espen Andersen finished far off the pace in 19th, 22nd and 25th - effectively ending their medal hopes.