Monday, January 21, 2013

Australian Open QF Preview

Azarenka vs Kuznetsova

World number one and defending champion Vika Azarenka reached the quarter-final without having faced much of a challenge so far, if we forget of her 3rd round match against Hampton, where she was forced to a 3rd set, where she didn't have much problems to face. Vika looked in great shape and surely determined on doing her best to defend her title here in Australian, her first and so far only Major. It has to be said though, that she hasn't faced a single seeded player so far as Urzula Radwanska was eliminated by Hampton in the first round and then in the 4th she dispatched Vesnina, who had won a very thrilling battle with Vinci just the round before.
Her next opponent is going to be unseeded once again, but the kind of non-seed one doesn't want to find on her own way: Svetlana Kuznetsova is a two-time Slam winner and former world number two coming back from a long break due to injury. Sveta had already made a great impact on the draw as she came through one of the highest quality match played so far to defeat former world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki 7-5 in the third set. On her way to this QF Sveta showed a new fighting spirit and a far more focused game, without the black-outs that made her free fall in the ranking just a couple of seasons ago: the impressive scores with which waled to the third round and then the mental edge displayed in both 3rd and 4th are the proof.
Nonetheless Azarenka surely will enter the court as the clear favourite and a win by the Russian would be a great surprise, though I expect Sveta to make it close and even have her chances, I believe Vika will win this in straight 7-5 6-4.

Williams vs Stephens

The all American QF has a lot of fascination in it, as the two girls are somewhat of the past vs the future match up that everyone hopes to happen, Serena, the greatest player of that era and Sloane, the hope for the future of the American tennis, the sign that Williams made a track to follow for other black American girls. But it's highly improbable that the young Stephens could give much troubles to the clear favourite Williams, not yet at least.
Their way to that result alone would be enough of a reason to think so as Serena lost 6 games in all her matches combined so far, whilst Sloane had to win a very tough 3 sets battle against the Serbian hope Jovanovski just in the round before. Moreover Sloane might feel a little all-content by having reached her first Slam QF, while for Serena anything but a win is for sure a disappointment at this rate. 6-2 6-3 is my prediction in favour of Serena.

Li Na vs Radwanska

World number 4 Agnieska Radwanska is surely one of the players you can always count on having a deep run in whatever tournament she enters, but after having reached the final in Wimbledon last year, she has then acquired the status of slam contender and the terrific form in which she has arrived here in Melbourne can't but confirm that. Aga has indeed yet to lose a match since the beginning of the season after the back to back titles in Auckland and Sydney. What's more, she still hasn't dropped a set in those Australian Open taming in two easy sets Ivanovic in the 4th round too.
Her opponent is a very much more challenging one, as Chinese Li Na has showed her love for the Slam Downunder many times in the past, having reached her first slam semifinal and final on those courts. The Chinese still reaches that match having lost their latest meeting just a couple of weeks ago and in her last match against Goerges in R4 needed some help from the German to get away from the match in straight sets as her consistency was far from impressive and if she wants to trouble the Pole she can't afford any drop in her game level and will need to be ready for long rallies, where she has to play aggressive yet producing few errors, if she wants to stand a chance.
If we had to go for an upset out of the all QFs, that's the match where the chances are higher, but I still don't see Radwanska losing this, though she might drop a set taking the match for 6-3 5-7 6-2

Makarova vs Sharapova

As like as we have the all American match-up, the bottom half offers an all Russian one, where as like as in the other, one of the most successful player of that era is being featured. Maria Sharapova has already won once here in the past and last year she was capable of reaching the final before being completely blown out of court by Azarenka in it. Knowing the fighting spirit of the Russian she is surely back here willing to take revenge for that and winning her second title on the Rod Laver Arena. Masha had the most impressive run so far, having dropped only 5 games, four of them against her biggest opponent up to now, Venus Williams in round 3. But not even Venus looked ever close to bother the incredible solidity of Sharapova, whose shots seems as strong as usual, but much more reliable than in the past year, so it won't be easy for anyone to make it close with her.
It's going to be very unlikely that her next opponent, Ekaterina Makarova, would. The young Russian, though she's just one year younger than Masha, is of a much lesser league than her more famous opponent and that match is pretty probable to follow last year's way as the two met exactly one year ago again in the QF and Masha won it for 6-2 6-3. Moreover she leads the head to head for 4-0. So unless a very unlikely and surprising drop of level of Maria, Ekaterina will have her best done by making it slightly competitive and winning more than 5 games.
Don't get those words wrong though, Makarova did a great job to get this far as she tamed very important names like Bartoli and Kerber, but her game seem just to be unsuitable to challenge Maria's.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Getting to know: Daniela Merighetti

In a cold and slightly cloudy evening, among the streets of Cortina, a very smiling Daniela Merighetti welcomes me in the hall of Savoia's hotel, where she sleeps with the rest of the Italian team. It's the night before Downhill's race, still she looks very relaxed and very kindly grants a few time for me and a little talk to me, whose result is the following interview.

so, Daniela, better known with the nick-name of Dada, was born in Brescia in 1981 started her career as a specialist of slalom and giant slalom, moving later to the speed races, where now has taken her place among the best names.

So let's start by asking you, how does it feel to be back in Cortina after last year's victory?
Coming to Cortina is always a great emotion for me, because it's my favourite slope in the whole tour and then, well, last year I won my first race ever here, and the only one so for, hoping it won't remain the only...

Sure, and then we arrive here strong of the 2nd place in St. Anton and today's training went...
well! (best time scores in the only training done -editor's note-)
well indeed. so?
I am even more motivated than last year. You know, we can say that last year it was rather much of a surprise, I mean, I was feeling great and I knew I could make it to the top 3, but coming here with a 2nd place in the last downhill, I am not expecting to win, but I know I can do it, that's it!

Other than Cortina, where else do you enjoy racing the most?
I really like Garmisch, snow it's always hard there and I enjoy the course setting a lot.

Making a little step backwards in the past. You arrived to world cup for the slalom, your first podium arrived in Giant Slalom and then...you've reinvented yourself as a speed specialist.
Yes, after the nth injury to my knees I was struggling to come back in GS, results weren't satisfying and so I tried downhill and it immediately went great, so from then on I didn't do speed only, but almost, you know, results were much better there.

We can say, love at first sight?
More or less, I can say I didn't feel like a true speed specialist at first.

When did that breaking-point happen?
It was a FIS race in Bardonecchia, I was starting with such a high number because my points were really high...I didn't even put on the national team's race suit, but a very shabby old one from FILA ("una tutina sfigatissima" orig.)

Don't you miss racing in GS and slalom though?
Of course I do, well, I did until a few years ago. Now, not really, but I missed racing in GS a lot.

Going to a more hot topic, how's the atmosphere of the top group? I mean, Maze, Riesch...Vonn and Riesch that are best friends on one day and foes on the other...
Well, honestly, we see each other almost only during races, in the sense that we train in different places and such, so we don't see much of each other. I am quite much of a friend with Maze and Gut anyway and with Maria (Riesch) too. I don't have much of a intercourse with Vonn, we just say hi when we meet, that's it. I just find the friendship between Riesch and Vonn odd to say the least, it doesn't look much true.

Do you think it's possible to be friends when you race at such a competitive level?
Yes, I do think so. Because I think at first should come respect for the athlete and for yourself. You have to be sincere and admit when someone has been better than you, tell her she's done great and recognise it. So yes, I think it's possible to have friendships with other athletes.
Because you know, generally it's believed girls can be a lot meaner than boys.
Well that's true, but if a friendship is true, it surely is stronger than such things.

Going back to past again, how was your first time on snow?
Terrible! My first time on snow was traumatising. honestly I don't even recall it, I must have been 6 and a half or something. I was going just because my older sisters were going too.
At first I didn't like it at all, but then I started with some small races and the team mates were cool, so I kept it going.

I think the answer is already known, but I want to hear it from you. Which is your best moment on skis?
Well, of course, last year here in Cortina, when I won the race and then singing the national anthem.

...not very nice to be asked, but what about the worst one? or the biggest disappointment, the one which was harder to move over?
Oh, you know, there are many, but you forget delusions, still I would say injuries, all of them, from the first to the last.

Moving to what is in my opinion a great compliment, you know, finding the best form of your life...
late in the career. (she very brightly smiles)
...exactly, well, I think it's a such a great message for the youngsters, since nowadays girls (and boys too) give up when still very young if they don't immediately score big results. What is the reason behind that in your opinion?
In my opinion if you have a big passion and you really want to arrive to the top, things seem less heavy. Skiing is such a difficult sport, very traumatic and there are a lot of variables. You know, one day you ski amazingly and the day after not even close and you can't understand how could that happen. But that teaches you to never give up and keep hanging on, because when victories or good results happen, you are wholly paid back for your hard work and all the sacrifices. I've never given up and in the end one could see it, I started to win - well I won (laughs) my first race at 30 and so I hope to be a good example for the younger girls.

Absolutely, mostly because, generally more often in women ski, there's a big pressure on girls to achieve great results while still young, so many girls crumble after the big steps of European Cup or World Cup.
Yes, absolutely. And then World Cup and European Cup are very different and a lot of girls, we've seen in the years, failed to prove themselves from one to the other tour and often good names of WC get bad results if they race in EC. It's very weird I know.
Coaches should still understand that every girl needs her own times to mature and so if they see something good in her, she should be given time and support even if results don't arrive immediately.

Life as a sportsman is about goals, isn't it? What are yours?
Actually I don't set much goals for me, I just think of staying healthy and so I do everything it takes to do so, in gym as on snow. So whenever I do that, I just get what it gives, of course having been on the podium last year, I wanted to be back this year, but the most important thing is to do your best at the end of the day.

The day you'll call it a career, will you be working as a trainer?
Until last year I didn't even want to take the ski instructor course, but now I think I should after all, but I am sure I won't teach skiing, not immediately at least. I will do whatever it will inspire me the most then, I've never considered it, so I don't know yet.

Outside of the world of skiing, how is Daniela Merighetti?
When I am home, I honestly love to spend time with my family and my nephews, and seeing my friends and having some fun with them too.

If you hadn't gone on with what was then a splendid career as a skier, what do you think you would have ended up doing?
I don't know, I loved playing volleyball, but I was a better skier, so it was what I went on doing, but volleyball is still my favourite sport, not skiing. So I don't know what I would have been doing, probably studied a bit more, I did only my high school because after that I knew skiing would have been my life and so I didn't take further studies.

The important thing is seeing you happy of your choices even now, after all, if you kept it going for years the passion must be very strong...one last question, what other sports do you enjoy the most or practise?
As I said I love volleyball, but I also enjoy tennis, mostly watching because I am a terrible player (schiappa - orig.)...really, unwatchable! And I think that's it...and I don't like football.

Well since this blog is about skiing and tennis, I couldn't have had a better guest. Thank you so much and all the best for tomorrow and further.
Thank you and good luck to you too.


Sadly in today's race Dada couldn't confirm the great result of last year and of the training as a big mistake almost made her fall, relegating her to a 28th place, far from the podium she was probably going to take otherwise. At the end of the race, she still looked positive and could even smile and be kind to the crowd and in a brief talk told me how that result won't affect her positivity and that she'll still go and try her best tomorrow and after. One can't but be behind her after such a display of kindness and true goodness, so good luck Dada!
 

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Getting to know: Ula Hafner

Today I have the pleasure and honour to interview one of the most interesting names among the youngsters of the tour, Slovenian young talent Ula Hafner.



-So Ula, let's introduce yourself first, they know your name already, which is a start, but when and where were you born?
My name is Ula Hafner and I was born on 9th of July 1993 in Ljubljana ,Slovenia

-Describe yourself in 6 words, 3 qualities and 3 flaws.
As qualities I would say that I'm a hard worker, easy going and positive person who likes to talk a lot. As for flaws, well I can be so damn stubborn even in situations when it would be better not to be, as 2nd flaw I would say I'm really grumpy when I'm tired or nervous and my 3rd flaw is that I hate fast changes, it makes me totally confused and lost so let's say that fast adjustability is not my second name.

-When did you start skiing?
When I was 3 years old I say to my mum and dad:'' I want to be a skier!'' and since then I'm skiing but with skiing in local ski club SK Alpetour Škofja Loka I started when I was 5.


-Did you have an hero you tried to emulate when you first started skiing? Do you still have a hero or at least a favourite skier?

Yes I had, when I was little I was a big fan of Janica Kostelić and Bode Miller and I was telling everyone around me that one day I would be as good as them. Now I don't have any hero and when anyone asks me about favourite skier I always say that there is no bad skier in world cup and it's hard to decide who is my favourite. Nonetheless I must say in last season Mikaela Shiffrin totally impressed me so maybe I should say that she's my new hero.


-Did you use to practice any other sport before dedicating yourself to skiing? Do you still enjoy them nowadays on your free time?
Sure, 1st I've been dancing then swimming it was pretty much serious and in between I was trying myself in all other sports, but it was more for fun ,professionally I continued just with skiing.
And yes of course, when skiing season is over I start with running ,swimming ,surfing ,cliff jumping ,tennis ,climbing and all other sports.


-Going back to skiing, what is your happiest memory related to the world of ski races? And what was your biggest disappointment?
My happiest memory is surely my first win on Topolino race, when I was still racing in children categories because even if I knew that I was not a bad skier, I've never thought that I could really win such a big race and I was totally surprised when I won it... so it's really my favourite memory even if I always like to look back and remember all my children categories' races.
Biggest disappointment...hmm...I'll say my wjc (World Junior Championships) in Les Houches and Les Planards- France it was my 2nd year of racing in FIS (season 2009-2010). I expected way too much from those races and then my gs race was a disaster full of mistakes and my slalom shape was good before World junior championship so we were all dreaming about top 10 and after a good 1st run I didn't finish my 2nd run so we were all totally disappointed.


-You've had one of the most impressive first season on FIS circuit, but since then you seem to be floating around that level without any great improvement. This is a very common scenario in women skiing, what do you think is the reason in your case? Do you think it's the same for the other cases too?
You are so right when you say that after first year of my racing in FIS I'm just floating around without any really great improvement. It is hard to say what is the main reason, but truth is that in my1st year of racing in fis I was training with my club, later they put me in women C team and then B team and it was pretty much different because when I came in team there were no money left for alpine skiing in Slovenia and staff was always trying to find good cheap training and, as we all know, it's not always the best so I lost myself a little bit maybe. Before I was always used to do not really much days on snow, but days I had were always efficient, hard and sometimes more difficult than trainings I had with team, so maybe that's one of the reasons, but like I said it's hard to say what went wrong. So if it's hard for myself, I guess it's harder to say for all the others.


-Your first race of this season was in Levi for the Ski WC and you were close to qualify, but since then things didn't exactly go well. How do you think you'll make this season turn to the best?
Levi world cup race, especially upper part of it, was great for me, but afterwards I honestly expected much more from ec races before new year, because on trainings I was still fast but on races I wanted too much and I was doing too many mistakes.
At the end of December I decided to take more than 10 days off, put my head on "off" and now I'm back on snow and I'll continue step by step -first I will go on FIS races then back on EC and try to prepare myself as good as possible for WJC and the rest of season.

-Being an athlet is a matter of goals, what are yours and how do you set them?
My goals at the start of the season were really high, something like: EC top 15 in slalom and GS constantly whole season-long, then WJC top 10 gs + sl and some placements in WC top 30 in slalom or GS, but I like to say that when I'm without goals and I think just on good runs I'm the best, so goals for the rest of season are : do my really best and show best run I can show in given moment.


-Skiing is an individual sport, but having a good team to train with is very important for one's development, do you agree on that?
Of course I agree on that! When you have a good team and especially a good staff who knows how to find good training and good conditions, it's much easier to succeed.


-It's generally believed that girls are a lot meaner to each other, even inside the same team, when it comes to individual sports. Have you ever experienced somethings alike? Do you think it's hard to make good friends in the circuit?
Well on my luck I didn't have such an experience yet -we are all good friends in team ,but honestly I always make good friends with men easier than with girls, maybe thats's because when I was little I was all the time training with boys and playing games with boys, somehow we could say that eversince I have had more men then women friends :) But I think it is not that hard, you can be good friends with another girl, but just until the race begins on race day, we are all fighting for the same goal after all -to win and there is no friends in that game.

-Being a professional athlete means training all year long, for skiers it is -if possible- even harder as you have often to take long journeys to train or race, how do you cope with studies?
Yes, you are right it's far away from being easy and when it comes to school I can say that normally I have just 2 months time to do everything for my school, but at the same time dry-land trainings starts so it's really difficult, still not impossible. I am still in high school which I should have ended last year but because of skiing I risked and so I am one school year behind my school mates.


-What about love?
Love, I'm in relationship with Slovenian cross-country skier Rok Tršan and I have to say that I'm really happy to have him! :)


-Since you are often travelling around the world, what is the thing you miss the most when away from home?
There is more then one thing I miss when I'm travelling around, but let say that i miss the most my bed ,mum and her food, my boyfriend and my dog.


-Anything else you want to say to your fans and our readers?
I would like to say to all my fans and readers thank you a lot for all the support and keep on following alpine ski racing and other sports!


It's been a great pleasure for me, I wish you all the best for the new year and your career!
thanks a lot Giulio!

Giulio Gasparin

Mikaela makes it 3



“You are a dancing queen, young and free, only seventeen” sang the Abba many years ago, but queen tonight was a slalom queen as the 17 years old American Mikaela Shiffrin conquered her 3rd win in a row by capturing the victory in front of the amazing crowd of Flachau.
The first run, any way, had closed under the sign of a rescue for the German team as on the lead there was Maria Riesch, who after the several disappointments of the last events seemed to have found back her security and the time immediately followed. The advantage of the German start was of over half a second on slalom leader Shiffrin and close to the second to Christina Geiger, surprisingly 3rd.
As a confirmation of her great form this season Frida Hansdotter scored a 4th placement, while a good news came to Tanja Poutiainen, 5th after the latest disappointing results. Who surely wasn’t happy with her run was Tina Maze, only 8th, but the Slovene looked pretty tired and somehow worn out and she’s probably not to blame for that, after all she’s racing in all disciplines and with a terrific outcome in each of them since the very first race of the season.
Among the surprises of the first run, surely one was to see Bernadette Schild placing herself as high as 7th and another Austrian Thalmann 13th. While with higher bibs Terwiel from Canada managed to hit her 2nd top 30 finish as with number 45 got to the 21st place, bib 50 Barbara Wirth got 28th and bib 43 Michelle Gisin hit the 29th.
The latter, sister of the excellent speed skier Dominique, was to be the main protagonist of the second run a couple of hours later. Michelle exploited the clean course and attacked from the very beginning the very complicate setting of the second run, managing to tame all the many figures and the waves of the slope. The result was almost a perfect run, whose value was to be proved by the number of girls that one after the other finished behind her and in the end by the fact that hers was the best time.
The raise in the ranking looked unstoppable as when the top 15 were to start, none had finished closer to her than Holdener and Loeseth, both still further than half a second away.  The leadership of the young Swiss wasn’t to last much longer though, as former world champion and Czech star Sarka Zahrobska by skiing a very solid performance in that second run, could snatch the lead, even if for few hundreds. After the famous delicate operation she had to undergo last summer, it was such a great joy to see her again smiling in the leader box and finally see her back into top 10 as she finished 8th, right in from of Gisin.
Local favorite Carmen Tahlmann, after the very convincing first run, started the second very aggressive and looked on her way to a great time, but when less of half of the course was missing she knocked into a gate and fell.
A few important runs happened then one after the other, first Swede Swenn-Larsson took advantage of the setting done by her coach and took the lead hitting a very interesting time, which will eventually take her at the feet of the podium as she ended up being 4th. Immediately after, Tina Maze, still looking far from bright as she usually was in slalom earlier in the season, could ski very composed and if she failed to overtake Larsson, she could take her contrail and finished 5th, a placement worth of important points for the Overall WC.
Bernadette Schild, after the great first run, didn’t let that placement scare her and could defend it and improve it little as she finished 6th and best Austrian in the race, as Kirchgasser, after having lost a pole in the early gates, went out.
First Poutiainen and then Hansdotter bettered Larsson’s time, with the former Swede taking a great lead with an outstanding last flat section.

Then, in just a few minutes lapse of time, all the dreams of the German team crashed against a cold reality, in which both Geiger and Riesch fell, giving a great disappointment to the many German fans who came to Austria to cheer for their girls. In the break between the two a true masterpiece was to happen though, as Mikaela Shiffrin, the amazingly talented American, despite a little wary start in which she lost almost all her advantage, shone brighter than the lights of the slope to ski one of the most amazing sections in this season, taking almost a second of advantage over Hansdotter, whose flat already seemed outstanding.
For the American this way came the third win in world cup and her winning streak remains open, while her leadership in the slalom cup looks more and safer.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Hirscher from Fail to Glory in Adelboden

Grasp all, lose all

Sometimes the proverbs of the olds aren't just a fixed idiom, but they see in every-day life their reflection. So it was for Marcel Hirscher, who had to come into terms with the famous one in the heading as he blew away a certain win in Saturday's giant slalom of Adelboden.
But going on step by step, the first run of one of the most famous and spectacular Giant Slaloms of the circuit gave already a big deal of emotions, surely a great entreé for what would have been the second leg.
Once again at the lead of the race after the first run there were the dominants of the discipline for the past two years, Marcel Hirscher and Ted Ligety, the latter only few hundreds away from the Austrian, despite a big mistake which almost set him out.
All the others, starting from Fanara were more than one second away with only two slightly big surprises happening: the first was the comeback on good levels in the discipline by Svindal (4th) and Kostelic (6th), the second the qualification of a bunch of athlets coming down with high bibs such as 52 for Caviezel and 54 for Muffat Jandet.
In the second run Swiss youngster Caviezel was the first one to get close to break the limit of 1'14" and with such a time he could step by step climb the ranking in his very first appearance in a second run of World Cup. From the 23rd place of the first run he could lead the race until the 19th came down, that one being Italian Davide Simoncelli, who seemed another athlet from the first run as he passed the swiss on the lead, but together with him led the race for long as the two finished 10th and 11th.
But today it was the day of the come-backs from behind as first Manfred Moelgg and then the German duo of Dopfer and Neureuther signed the best three times of the 2nd run to raise the ranking in spite of their first runs.
The Italian, who was 12th at the middle of the race, showed to be the most in form of his team in the technical races once again as he rose as high as 4th with his terrific 2nd section. The podium finished very close for him, but the raise of the Germans prevented him from achieving it. First Neureuther and then Dopfer indeed, were the only one in the top 10 to get close to the time of the Italian and bettered it; the two who were 8th and 9th after the first run took the lead in front of Moelgg and saw one by one all the other top tenners finishing behind them.
When the top 3 were to go down the situation had still Dopfer ahead of compatriot Neureuther and then Moelgg. Thomas Fanara, after the great first run fell into one of the many trapts of Adelboden's slope and crashed after very short time.
Secure of his great lead Ted Ligety skied a little more wary than usual, but that still was enough to take the lead and put all the pressure on Hirscher's shoulders.
The Austrian maybe by knowing how close Ligety had been in first run in spite of his mistake, or maybe to show how better than him he could be, attacked all the way down the swiss slope and approached the last steep with a terrific advantage of more than one second on the American. But if you grasp all, you lose all. He wanted too much and tried an impossible line to enter this very last steep and almost jumped on the entering wave, that costed him an almost fall, which led to a complete stop. Only thanks to his incredible reactivity he could still finish the race, but far behind the top names, 16th.

3 on 3 wins in the last slaloms

Whatever passed in the mind of Hirscher the night after the giant slalom surely seemed to affect his first run in the slalom, where he looked far more wary than usual, a little blocked even as he tried to finish the run without too big mistakes, but this time it wasn't enough to stay on top.
The lead after the first run was taken by Manfred Moelgg, whose raise to the top after a couple of complicated seasons seems finally completed, who led by a very short distance evergreen Mario Matt and the more and more costant Felix Neureuther. But the race was far from being decided as the 11th, Alexis Pinturault was just 1second away from the first place and so everyone had his chances to be played in the 2nd run.
The man of the come backs, Japanese Naoki Juasa, after the fabulous fairytale of Madonna di Campiglio, did something surely not as big, but worth of mention here, as he could rise in the 2nd run from 25th to 14th place. Even better did American Chodounsky, whose 2nd run time let him gain 10 positions worth of a 10th place by the end and best career result.
In the early runs of the top 10 little did Missilier and Dopfer, but then it was Hirscher's turn, who at the start arrived without the ghosts that probably frightened him in the first run as he went down like only he can do in this season. Unstoppable he set a terrific time, one second faster than everybody else and even though his gap from top was quite big, the chances he could finish not on top were very slim.
Indeed, one after another all the specialists of the slalom had to surrender to the Austrian and so when the top 3 was about to start, he was still leading the race with a big margin on Kostelic and Pinturault.
Neureuther skied well, but a couple of mistakes held him back and placed him right behind the Croat and eventually 5th.
Mario Matt started with a great fighting spirit, hence risking a lot, but that didn't make him fail or fall into the traps of the setter and in the end he was the only one who could even if for little scare Hirscher as he lost a lot in the upper part of the course, to eventually make up by the end, but not enough to stop the team-mate.
First run leader Manfred Moelgg had on his shoulder the burden of the mediocre day of his team and the awerness that he needed something extraordinery to stay ahead of Hirscher. He tried his all cards, but this time it wasn't enough, he skied well and took many risks, but Hirscher had been just too good. The Italian could still be happy at the end as he finished 3rd, first podium in slalom after 3 years.

Maze writes history once again

However the season will finish, Tina Maze will remember this season for the great pages she wrote in the history of skiing. After having broken the record of number of podiums achieved by the new year, after hitting more than 1000points by the half of the season, she still had one great achievement to hit: winning at least one race in all five disciplines, something that only five girls were able to before this weekend (Petra Kronberger, Pernilla Wiberg, Anja Paerson, Janica Kostelic and Lindsey Vonn). Maze needed only one superg win and after the delusion of seeing that win fading in St. Moritz for a bunch of hundreds, she could finally snatch this very first win in St. Anton and enter the history once more.

McKennis wins her first WC race

The first day of this Austrian weekend devoted to speed events saw a shortened downhill, which had brought a lot of talking even before its start. The very technical slope had seen only one training because of the very intense snowfalls of the week and the organizers decided to make it a little easier by cutting the top part trying to clean the course from the fresh snow.
In such conditions it's known how the early numbers can be favourited by a slope that passage after passage gets more and more ruined hence harder to ski well on it, but that didn't diminish the amazing display of technique and wise choice of lines that the young American Alice McKennis showed by running down with bib 4. Alice looked very determined and made almost no mistakes on the technical turns that characterize the Austrian slope, nonetheless looking very compfortable in the few gliding sections.
The proof that her leadership was going to last longer than one could have expected arrived a few runs afterwards, when hot-form Anna Fenninger skied an almost flawless run, but still finished behind the American (the Austrian eventually finished 3rd).
One by one all the big names of the Downhill had to surrender to the young American, who stayed on the leaderbox watching anxiously each of them until the very moment they had crossed the finish line with a higher time than hers.
Bib 10 and World Cup leader Tina Maze after the big disappointment of Zagreb knew she had to do a great run in order to stay ahead of Vonn and keep gaining points on the American, but as for Fenninger her almost flawless run wasn't enough and that little mistake on the long turn to beging the flat section would eventually cost her the podium, as she would be 4th by the end.
Everyone was waiting to see what Lindsey Vonn would have done, the American had been away from the tour for almost a month and little news came from her, surely if she was back, she was back to win and even if a little rusty, she clearly tried her best and you could see on Alice's eyes a great surprise when even Vonn finished behind her and for a bunch of hundreds even behind Maze.
If the next few girls in the top group didn't seem to be able to cope with the bumps which formed on the course, the last one of them to run down, Italian Daniela Merighetti prooved how it was still possible to score a competitive time and for very little she didn't break Alice's dreams for a victory. The Italian, who had scored her very first victory in world cup just last year in Cortina, started with a very convincing lead on the top intermediate, but making a very big mistake on the entry of the "channel", which cost a big toll by the next intermediate, but surprising as no-one else was able to do such a thing, she started to make up hundreds on hundreds on the second half of the course finishing very close to the American, but still second. Nevertheless you could easily see the great happiness of hers to be finally back on podium.

Maze above all first time in Superg

Unlike the day before, the Sunday's Superg didn't see a lot of surprises in terms of names on top, as all the top 7 finishers came from the top group, the surprise came though by the absence of Vonn from the podium and the fact that the win was a duel between two girls who had never won in that discipline before.
When top group was about to start at the lead of the race there was Viktoria Rebensburg, who exploited her great ability of GS specialist to do so and her time seemed very hard to be beaten. Actually the first to better her was the queen of last years Superg's cups, Lindsey Vonn, who, by taking the lead, seemed on her way to another podium, but some insecurities in the very tight turns on the top could give hints that today she was beatable.
Immediatly after the American, Austrian Fenninger did exactly what was possible to better Lindey time, which meant to be absolutely perfect there where Vonn had not been, where the turns were tight and very hard to tame. The Austrian was smooth and elegant and that gave her an amazing advantage by the end as she was almost a second faster than everyone else before.
Lara Gut, after the big disappointment of yesterday's downhill, had little to content herself as she didn't shine as she hoped, even if she could finish 7th by the end. Right after, it was Maze's turn and by showing a very different way of performing this course wasn't but as effective as Fenninger in every section of the course and this way she made a nail-biting race where every little flaw, even the smallest could have meant enough for the final win. It was all between the two of them, both with 3 second places in that discipline and no win yet, one of them would have finally taken this victory, for the other it would have been the 4th silver. 4 hundreds, so few that when you have said it loud they have passed already, so few, but they meant so much for Maze as she could take, thanks to them 4, her very first win and enter history.
But if the duo on top finished very tight, the podium got decided by even less as Swiss Fabienne Suter killed the chance for Vonn's podium by just one single hundred.