Shiga Kogen: Raich nears title with slalom win; Ligety 5th

Shiga Kogen: Raich nears title with slalom win; Ligety 5th{mosimage}SHIGA KOGEN, Japan – Austrian Benjamin Raich won a men’s World Cup slalom event on Friday, moving a step closer to his first overall title.

Raich had a winning time of 1 minute, 36.66 seconds, to finish 0.17 seconds ahead of Japan’s Akira Sasaki, who was second. Canada’s Thomas Grandi was third with a time of 1:37.17 on the Mount Yakebitai course.

”I’m very happy with today’s race,” said Raich, who won his first World Cup slalom race of the season. ”It wasn’t easy because it was fast in the morning and slower in the afternoon when it got warmer but I made a good performance.”

With five World Cup events remaining, Raich has 1,260 points, 429 ahead of countryman Michael Walchhofer, who didn’t make the trip to Japan.

Norway’s Askel Lund Svindal, who finished sixth in Friday’s race, has 778 points in the overall standings. Svindal still has a mathematical chance to catch Raich, but would have to win all five remaining World Cup events.

”There is an excellent chance that I’ll win the title,” said Raich. ”It shows that you are constant over two or three disciplines and that’s something that is important to me.”

Raich, who won Olympic gold in slalom and giant slalom at Torino, went last in Friday’s run, edging out local favorite Sasaki.

Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety of the United States finished fifth with a time of 1:37.54.

Ligety, who won gold in the combined event at the Torino Games, was third after the morning run but couldn’t make up ground in the final.

Two of Ligety’s American teammates, Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves, are not competing here. Jimmy Cochran, the only other American to qualify for the second run, failed to finish his final run.

Italy’s Giorgio Rocca, who leads the World Cup slalom standings, finished 16th, one place behind Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic.

After Saturday’s slalom in Shiga Kogen, the remaining four men’s World Cup events will be held at Are, Sweden, on March 15-19.

– The Associated Press

World Cup men’s slalom
Shiga Kogen, Japan
March 10, 2006
1. Benjamin Raich, AUT 1:36.66
2. Akira Sasaki, JPN 1:36.83
3. Thomas Grandi, CAN 1:37.17
4. Michael Janyk, CAN 1:37.19
5. Ted Ligety, USA 1:37.54
6. Aksel Lund Svindal, NOR 1:37.61
7. Stephane Tissot, FRA 1:37.63
8. Felix Neureuther, GER 1:37.64
9. Kalle Palander, FIN 1:37.75
10. Rainer Schoenfelder, AUT 1:37.81
11. Kurt Engl, AUT 1:37.86
12. Mitja Valencic, SLO 1:37.90
13. Patrick Thaler, ITA 1:37.94
14. Kentaro Minagawa, JPN 1:38.00
15. Ivica Kostelic, CRO 1:38.12
16. Giorgio Rocca, ITA 1:38.14
17. Marc Gini, SUI 1:38.21
18. Markus Larsson, SWE 1:38.23
19. Reinfried Herbst, AUT 1:38.25
20. Mario Matt, AUT 1:38.27
21. Alexandre Anselmet, FRA 1:38.37
22. Jean-Philippe Roy, CAN 1:38.41
23. Martin Hansson, SWE 1:38.45
24. Alois Vogl, GER 1:38.48
25. Cristian Deville, ITA 1:38.57
26. Manfred Pranger, AUT 1:38.81
27. Patrick Biggs, CAN 1:44.54
28. Steve Missillier, FRA 1:48.12
Other North Americans:
DNF 2nd: James Cochran, USA.
DNQ 2nd: Tom Rothrock, USA.
DSQ 1st: Chip Knight, USA.
DNF 1st: Ryan Semple, CAN.

THE SCOOP

Equipment
Men’s slalom, Shiga Kogen, March 10, 2006
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1. Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2. Sasaki, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
3. Grandi, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
4. Janyk, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
5. Ligety, Volkl/Nordica/Marker
6. Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7. Tissot, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8. Neureuther, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9. Palander, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10. Schoenfelder, Fischer/Nordica/Fischer

Men’s slalom, Shiga Kogen, Japan, March 10, 2006. … It is the 31st event of a 34 race, four combined men’s World Cup schedule. … It is the eighth of 10 scheduled slaloms. … Five races remain on the schedule: another slalom at Shiga Kogen and one race in each discipline in World Cup Finals at Are, Sweden.

It is the 22nd career win for Benjamin Raich. … He is the fourth-leading Austrian male in World Cup wins behind Hermann Maier (53), Stephan Eberharter (29) and Franz Klammer (26). … It is his 10th career win in slalom (tying him with Thomas Stangassinger for sixth all-time (males only) behind Ingemar Stenmark, Alberto Tomba, Marc Girardelli, Jean-Noel Augert and Giorgio Rocca. … It is the eighth win of the season for Raich, including two Olympic gold medals. … He has won 30 percent of his races this season.

It is the third career second-place finish for Akira Sasaki and second this season after Schladming. …He now has more podium results than any Japanese skier in World Cup alpine history usurping Tetsuya Okabe’s claim. … His is the first Japanese podium scored in Japan.

It is the seventh career podium for Thomas Grandi. … The third in slalom. … It is his third podium of the season after claiming two back-to-back at Kranjska-Gora in December. … It is the ninth podium of the season for Canada. …

It is a career-best result for Michael Janyk. … He combined with Grandi to produce the best two-man result ever in a World Cup slalom. … Janyk is just the sixth Canadian to claim a top-four World Cup slalom result. … It is the sixth top five of the season for Ted Ligety. … In 13 completed races this season Ligety has been top 10 in 12; top five in seven. … It is the fourth scoring result of the season for Jean-Philippe Roy, all between 20th and 25th. … It is the third scoring finish of the season for Patrick Biggs, sixth of this career.

Raich extends the overall standings lead to 1260-831 over Michael Walchhofer (did not race). … Raich has won three World Cup discipline titles in previous years, but has not won the overall title before. Top Americans in the overall standing, Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves, each drop one position, to fifth and sixth respectively. … Neither American was in this race. … Rocca (16th in race) maintains the lead in the slalom standings 515-395 over Kalle Palander (ninth in race). … Ligety is third at 370 and Raich fourth at 360. … With two slaloms remaining, all four are mathematically alive in the chase for the slalom crown. … Winning margin was .17 of a second. … Top eight skiers were within the same second. … Top 25 within two seconds.