Alpine skiing - Hirscher edges to slalom win with superb recovery

This was Hirscher's fourth World Cup race win of the season, and the 49th of his career, leaving Swiss Luca Aerni in second, 0.04 seconds off the pace and fellow overall title contender Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway in third.

(Reuters)

The 28-year-old Hirscher, second to Kristoffersen in the overall World Cup standings going into Friday's race, carried a 0.23 seconds advantage after the first run.

Racing last in the second run he looked to have gone off course when he slipped on the icy snow but recovered with a superb move to finish just ahead of Aerni's time.

The Austrian also won the giant slalom at Alta Badia last week and is firmly on course for a record-extending seventh successive overall World Cup title despite suffering a broken ankle in a training run in August.

Despite his dominance of the World Cup, Hirscher has never won an Olympic gold medal - something he has a chance to change in Pyeongchang in February.

The Pyeongchang Games run from Feb. 9-25.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Pritha Sarkar)