Stoch, a three-time Olympic gold medallist, topped the standings after the first round of competition at Gross-Titlis-Schanze in the Swiss resort.

He achieved a distance of 138 metres with his first jump to score 147.2 points.

A jump of 134.5m saw Austria’s Kraft emerge as the closest challenge to Stoch, as he ended the opening round on 142.7 points.

The gap was closed in the final round of competition, where Kraft achieved a distance of 137.5m compared to Stoch’s 136m.

Stoch, though, was ultimately able to celebrate a narrow victory at the end of the competition, the Polish star topping the standings on 288.7 points.

He ended just 1.7 points clear of Kraft.

Germany’s Karl Geiger rounded off the podium places after achieving jumps of 133.5m and 135m during the competition.

Geiger finished with a score of 277.6 points.

Japan’s Ryoyu Kobayashi missed out on the podium, last weekend’s winner ending in second place on 274.1 points. 

He was replaced at the top of the overall World Cup standings by Kraft, who now has 356 points after a victory and two second place finishes in the past three competitions.

Kobayashi dropped to second on 340 points, with Geiger rising to third place on 297.

Competition is due to continue tomorrow in Engelberg with another large hill event.