Hirscher wins Zagreb slalom

Austria's triple overall World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher won Tuesday's night slalom in the Croatian capital ahead of his main rival Felix Neureuther of Germany and Norway's Sebastian-Foss Solevaag.
The 25-year-old Hirscher, leading overall, won both races to eventually finish 0.81sec ahead of Neureuther, who was fourth after the first race.
Solevaag finished 1.04sec behind the winner for his first podium.
It was Hirscher's third consecutive victory at Sljeme, the mountain peak overlooking Zagreb, after 2012 and 2013. Last year's event was not held due to unfavourable weather conditions.
"Today I skied maybe my best Zagreb race," he told reporters.
With Sunday's win Hirscher became the Austrian skier with the most slalom wins -- 15. The two others who had 14 slalom victories are Benjamin Raich and Mario Matt.
The 30-year-old Neureuther said it had been a "really tough race."
"I'm happy with the second race. My feeling wasn't so good during the run. It was so steep and slippery. It was really, really, icy."
Meanwhile, some 15,000 home fans focused on Croatia's veteran star Ivica Kostelic who might have been competing for the last time in his hometown.
It is at Sljeme that Kostelic and his sister Janica, the first woman to win four golds in Olympic skiing history, made their skiing debuts coached by their father Ante.
The two are considered a sports miracle in Croatia as they created skiing history for a small nation of 4.2 million which practically has no snow conditions needed for top skiers.
But a series of health problems left their mark on the 2011 World Cup champion and serial Olympic silver-medallist who this season had a rather poor performance and his right knee is troubling him again.
"The season is not going as we would like. But, there are still a lot of races until the end and I'm focused on them," he told reporters.
Kostelic eventually ended up 18th. Asked whether it was his last appearance at Sljeme, Kostelic replied: "I hope it's not."
His sister Janica retired from competitive skiing in 2007 at the age of 25 due to long-standing health and injury problems.
In overall World Cup standings Hirscher is leading with 676 points followed by Kjetil Jansrud of Norway who has 624.
In slalom standings after four races Neureuther leads with 320 and Hirscher is second with only four points less.
The event started with a minute's silence for two promising junior members of the US ski team killed Monday in an avalanche while skiing in Austria.
Source: AFP