Italy's Davide Simoncelli raced to his first World Cup giant slalom victory of the season Saturday, beating countryman Massimiliano Blardone by 0.08 seconds at Yongpyong Ski Resort.
Davide Simoncelli, second in December in Alta Badia, had a two-run time of 2:13.63. He failed to complete the giant slalom in the Olympics at Sestriere.
"I'm happy. At Sestriere, I did not do so good, so today was perfect," he said.
PHOTO: AFP
Simoncelli was aggressive Saturday in the second run.
"We pushed it in the steeper, and in the steeper I won the race," he said.
Norway's Aksel Lund Svindel finished third in 2:13.83. Sweden's Fredrik Nyberg was fourth, followed by Austria's Benjamin Raich and Canada's Thomas Grandi.
Others werent so lucky. Nineteen skiers, including all three Koreans, failed to complete the afternoon run after running foul of its wave-like inclines and daunting initial drop.
Blardone leads the giant slalom standings after six races with 344 points. Raich is second with 331, followed by Nyberg (274) and Simoncelli (269). Blardone leads the giant slalom standings after six races with 344 points.
Simoncelli's solid performance in the windy conditions Saturday did little to salvage his overall World Cup standings, leaving him at 27th with 269 points, 841 behind leader Raich.
Austrian Michael Walchhofer takes second spot overall with 831 points despite struggling to make 20th Saturday. Bode Miller of the United States, who did not travel to South Korea, trails with 748.
Saturday's race was decided in the final seconds, with several skiers blasting in to steal the lead.
Svindel thought he had it all wrapped up until seconds from the end, when the Italian blew in to upset the leaderboard.
"I had almost half a second down to the fourth so they skied very good. Then you get beaten. That's the way it is," he said.
While the sun shone on the Italians, it wasnt a good day to be American. Turin gold medallist Ted Ligety was the only competitor not to start the first leg and Daron Rahlves bailed out of the second. Erik Schlopy clawed his way from 19th to 4th before he was eventually relegated to 8th.
Both Svindel and Simoncelli praised the perfect conditions. Three days of light snow until Thursday and a week of water injections left the course as good as it gets in South Korea, bolstering Pyeongchangs hopes of hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics.
The 50 skiers get another shot on the Rainbow 1 course Sunday before the eighth and final giant slalom world cup is held in Sweden.
Olympic bronze-medalist Hermann Maier, who finished 23rd Saturday, said he may be suffering from a post-Games letdown.
"I lost a little after the Olympics. It was the biggest goal for me this season -- now it's maybe a bit more apres-ski," Maier said.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set