Matt escapes Raich and Neureuther scare to win slalom

7 January 2008

ADELBODEN – World champion Mario Matt of Austria survived a scare to get his first season victory in the alpine skiing World Cup, in a slalom on Sunday.

Matt hung on to his first-run lead to prevail in 1 minutes 48.45 seconds, ending a 10-month drought with his ninth career win.

Two-time Adelboden winner Benjamin Raich, also of Austria, shot from eighth to second place, trailing by just one tenth on 1:48.55. Germany’s Felix Neureuther moved from ninth to third, another four hundredths of a second behind on 1:48.59 minutes.

"I feel well and have no problems when I ski," said Matt, who has been plagued by back problems.

Raich, for his part, stretched his lead in the overall World Cup with 640 points from 17 races, ahead of the Swiss duo of Didier Cuche (525) and Daniel Albrecht (446).

Raich also leads the slalom list with 216 points after four races. Neureuther has 188 points and Italy’s Manfred Moelgg 181 points.

The men’s World Cup continues in Wengen, Switzerland, with a super-combined race on Friday, the famous Lauberhorn downhill on Saturday and a slalom next Sunday.

Subject: Swiss news