MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016 SPORTS Kristoffersen edges Hirscher again to win WCup slalom ADELBODEN: Henrik Kristoffersen won the podium places on Wednesday at Santa Cup win was his sixth in slalom as he is third ahead of Kjetil Jansrud, another Yesterday, world champion Jean-Baptiste another duel with Marcel Hirscher in a World Caterina, Italy, where Hirscher got his only replaces Felix Neureuther of Germany as teammate who skips slalom. In slalom, Grange of France and American Ted Ligety Cup slalom yesterday to extend his lead in slalom win this season. Still, Hirscher extend- Hirscher’s biggest rival in the technical disci- Kristoffersen leads by 40 from Hirscher, the both failed to finish their morning runs. the standings. The Norwegian racer edged ed his lead in the overall standings as he pline. Racing started in the morning despite three-time defending discipline champion. David Chodounsky of the United States, who Austrian Hirscher by .06 seconds as they seeks a fifth straight title. fog and falling snow on a course judged Neureuther was runner-up each time. was 10th fastest in the morning, placed 20th, combined to finish 1-2 for the fourth straight Fog shrouded the course and hid second- unsafe for Saturday’s giant slalom, which was When the teenaged Kristoffersen got his trailing Kristoffersen by 2.76. Michael Ankeny World Cup slalom this season. “If we keep run racers cresting the hill into the steep final canceled. Organizers trucked in artificial first World Cup win - in January 2014 in the of the US moved up from 30th to 21st, 2.80 switching places the whole season then I will section from the view of fans in the finish snow in recent days and had to treat it with classic night slalom at Schladming, Austria - back, and earned World Cup points for the be pretty happy,” said Kristoffersen, who has area. Kristoffersen came into the picture slic- chemicals to produce a solid race surface in he had Hirscher and Neureuther beside him first time. The 24-year-old Ankeny grew up beaten Hirscher three times with just one ing through the gates faster than anyone to temperatures above freezing. on the podium. skiing on the same Buck Hill slope in loss. Aleksander Khoroshilov of Russia, the make up time he lost on the darker and fog- With 80 World Cup points earned Sunday, The looming Hirscher-Kristoffersen rivalry Minnesota as Lindsey Vonn. He scored a first-run leader, was third, trailing .60 behind gy top section. “From the last pitch down, I Hirscher now leads by 165 overall from Aksel was confirmed weeks later at the Sochi debut 10 points on the same day she got a Kristoffersen’s two-run time of 1 minute, skied really good in the second run,” said the Lund Svindal of Norway, who does not race Olympics when they filled the medal places 73rd career World Cup victory in a super-G at 51.34 seconds. The same three racers filled 21-year-old racer. His seventh career World slalom. Kristoffersen, who earned 100 points, behind champion Mario Matt of Austria. Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria. — AP Vonn at the double with super-G win ALTENMARKT-ZAUCHENSEE: Lindsey Vonn won a women’s World Cup super-G yesterday for her sec- ond victory in as many days, heating up the battle for this season’s overall title with leader Lara Gut. The American trailed Gut by 158 points coming into this weekend’s races but has reduced her deficit to 38 after also winning Saturday’s two-run downhill here. Gut placed second in the super-G, a day after the Swiss skier failed to finish the down- hill. “It was a perfect weekend,” said Vonn, who timed 1 minute, 12.75 seconds on the Kaelberloch course to beat Gut by 0.70. Cornelia Huetter of Austria came 1.25 back in third. Viktoria Rebensburg led Vonn by 0.35 at the final split time but the German had a costly mistake in the final part of her run and finished outside of the top 10. “I thought Lara or Vicky could beat me,” Vonn said. “I skied a little bit conservatively in the middle, I could have skied a little bit more clean. In the bot- AUCKLAND: New Zealand celebrate winning the series after the second T20 cricket match tom I definitely skied well. I played my cards right.” between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at Eden Park in Auckland yesterday. — AFP The speed coach of the US ski team, Alberto Senigagliesi, had set the twisting yet fast course. Vonn called it “a tough course set on this slope. In the Record breakers Guptill, middle it was tough but the lower part was really fun.”It was that bottom section where Vonn ultimate- ZAUCHENSEE: Winner US Lindsey Vonn kisses the trophy during the winner’s presentation of the Munro lead NZ sweep ly won the race. women Super-G race of the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup in Zauchensee, Austria, yesterday. — AFP “One thing that’s my strength is knowing where I the German said. “But it’s good to see you can chal- this season by a 1.32-second winning margin in AUCKLAND: Colin Munro blasted New was great viewing,” Williamson said of bat- need to make speed in the course,” Vonn said. “The lenge Vonn if you have a good run. I’ll take that with Lake Louise, Alberta, last month, and is now Zealand’s fastest Twenty20 half century to ting with Guptill and Munro. “The way the bottom part of this course is the most important me.” A day after matching the all-time record of 36 unbeaten in the discipline for four races. surpass a mark set by Martin Guptill earlier two local boys batted... was pretty special. part. I think I was smart with my tactics.” Similar to World Cup downhill victories, Vonn also continued It’s the second time in her career since 2009 that in the innings as the hosts swept their two- “It has been a hard fought series but Rebensburg, Gut led the American at the last inter- her dominance in super-G. Vonn is on a four-race winning streak. Only Katja match series against Sri Lanka with a nine- today it was a great effort (and)... it’s excit- mediate time but lost 0.71 in the final section that The last super-G Vonn didn’t win was in Bankso, Seizinger of Germany won more super-G racess in a wicket win in Auckland on Sunday. Guptill ing to see for the team and hopefully we Vonn mastered to perfection. “I enjoyed it and I am Bulgaria, in March last year, as she placed third row - five in 1997. The next event on the women’s first rewrote the record books when he can build on this as we move on to the very happy - until my final split time,” Gut said. “If you behind winner Anna Fenninger and runner-up Tina World Cup is a night slalom in nearby Flachau on took just 19 deliveries to bring up his World Cup.” The 2-0 series defeat also go fast, you can make mistakes.” Rebensburg said she Maze. Both the Austrian (knee injury) and the Tuesday. Flachau will also host next weekend’s eighth half century in the shortest form of ensured Sri Lanka, the 2014 World caught a bump and was thrown off the race line Slovenian (year off) are not competing this season. races that have been moved from Ofterschwang, the game before he was eventually dis- Twenty20 champions, were replaced by costing her the advantage over Vonn. “It annoys me,” The American took the only previous super-G Germany. — AP missed for 63 after smashing six bound- West Indies at the top of the International aries and five sixes. Cricket Council (ICC) T20 rankings. Sri His mark was then eclipsed by Munro Lanka’s innings had been held together by some 20 minutes later when the left hander test and one-day captain Angelo Mathews’ hit his seventh six to take New Zealand to 81 not out, his highest score in the format, 147 for one, the hosts chasing down Sri while opener Tillakaratne Dilshan scored a Lanka’s 142-8 total at Eden Park in just 10 streaky 28. overs. Munro’s half century came off 14 No other batsmen got into double fig- balls, the second fastest in international ures. As in most of the limited overs cricket behind India’s Yuvraj Singh (12 balls). matches on the tour, Sri Lanka’s top order He hit one four along with his seven maxi- failed to get their innings going, slumping mums to finish unbeaten on exactly 50. to 39-3 in the seventh over. “It went really fast. I didn’t really know Their normally reliable, and deep, mid- how many balls I faced until I got off the dle order also failed to capitalise on Eden field,” Munro said in a televised interview. Park’s small boundaries as New Zealand’s “Guppy (Guptill) has had a really good sum- bowlers varied their pace, line, length and mer so far and to beat that record is very flight, with part-time medium pacer Grant pleasing.” Captain Kane Williamson was 32 Elliott taking 4-22. The sixth Twenty20 not out from 21 balls as the visitors com- World Cup takes place in India from March pleted victory with 60 deliveries to spare. “It 8 to April 3. — Reuters SCOREBOARD AUCKLAND: Complete scoreboard in the second and final Twenty20 between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Auckland yesterday: Sri Lanka Bowling: Boult 4-0-36-0, Milne 4-0-36-2, D.