Schladming: Palander edges Sasaki; Miller, Ligety DQ'd
Schladming: Palander edges Sasaki; Miller, Ligety DQ’d{mosimage}SCHLADMING, Austria – Kalle Palander of Finland put together two near-perfect runs to win his first World Cup race of the season on Tuesday, claiming a men’s slalom by nearly eight-tenths of a second.
Palander, who led following the first heat, won in a combined time of 1 minute, 42.34 seconds. Japan’s Akira Sasaki came in second, 0.79 behind – to equal his best career result – while overall WorldCup leader Benjamin Raich was third, 0.81 seconds back.
Defending overall champion Bode Miller was disqualified after straddling a gate in the first run. American Ted Ligety, who had the leading time in the first run, and Olympic champion Jean-Pierre Vidal were also disqualified for running over a gate.
American Chip Knight finished 19th to secure a spot on the American Olympic team.
– The Associated Press
Men’s World Cup slalom results
Results Tuesday from a men’s World Cup night slalom on the Planai course (run times in parentheses):
1. Kalle Palander, Finland, 1 minute, 42.34 seconds (53.51-48.83).
2. Akira Sasaki, Japan, 1:43.13 (54.07-49.06).
3. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 1:43.15 (54.38-48.77).
4. Andre Myhrer, Sweden, 1:43.39 (54.07-49.32).
5. Stephane Tissot, France, 1:43.75 (54.29-49.46).
6. Kentaro Minagawa, Japan, 1:43.81 (53.96-49.85).
7. Rainer Schoenfelder, Austria, 1:44.58 (53.88-50.70).
8. Michael Janyk, Canada, 1:44.63 (54.35-50.28).
9. Patrick Thaler, Italy, 1:43.84 (54.68-49.16).
10. Martin Hansson, Sweden, 1:44.22 (54.45-49.77).
11. Manfred Pranger, Austria, 1:44.40 (54.55-49.85).
12. Hannes Paul Schmid, Italy, 1:44.46 (54.58-49.88).
13. Hans-Petter Buraas, Norway, 1:44.62 (55.13-49.49).
14. Thomas Grandi, Canada, 1:44.83 (54.27-50.56).
15. Pierick Bourgeat, France, 1:44.84 (54.98-49.86).
16. Andreas Omminger, Austria, 1:45.11 (55.47-49.64).
17. Daniel Albrecht, Switzerland, 1:45.13 (55.42-49.71).
18. Mario Matt, Austria, 1:45.31 (55.36-49.95).
19. Chip Knight, United States, 1:45.51 (55.83-49.68).
20. Marc Berthod, Switzerland, 1:45.58 (55.82-49.76).
21. Cristian Deville, Italy, 1:45.67 (55.72-49.95).
22. Alexander Koll, Austria, 1:45.78 (55.29-50.49).
(tie). Edoardo Zardini, Italy, 1:45.78 (55.48-50.30).
24. Manfred Moelgg, Italy, 1:45.89 (55.57-50.32).
25. Lars Myhre, Norway, 1:45.90 (55.51-50.39).
26. Johan Brolenius, Sweden, 1:46.31 (55.28-51.03).
27. Jean-Baptiste Grange, France, 1:46.83 (55.48-51.35).
28. James Cochran, United States, 1:47.07 (55.41-51.66).
Did not finish second run
Bernard Vajdic, Slovenia
Giorgio Rocca, Italy
Did not finish first run
Ted Ligety, United States
Bode Miller, United States
Patrick Biggs, Canada