Ligety wins giant slalom, Pinturault second

American Ted Ligety won the men's alpine skiing World Cup giant slalom race here on Saturday, while Austrian rising star Marcel Hirschner set up a showdown with Switzerland's Beat Feuz in the overall standings. Notching up his 11th World Cup victory, Ligety finished 1.61 seconds clear of Frenchman Alexi Pinturault, with Hirschner third, 2.03 seconds back. Defending champion Ligety also clocked the best time in the first leg, while overall standings leader Feuz, whose participation had hung in the balance due to a knee injury, failed to qualify for the second. "This course is just fantastic," Ligety said afterwards. "In the first leg, I skied really, really well." The American was full of praise for Pinturault, describing the Frenchman as an "exceptional skier". With just five races remaining in the season, Feuz now has an edge of just 55 points on Hirschner, and 201 on Croatia's Ivica Kostelic. Kostelic was 25th on Saturday, in what marked his return to competition four weeks after undergoing knee surgery. Hirschner said he was not focusing on the standings battle. "I don't want to have to calculate, and say, 'I need to take 40 points here, or 80 points there'," he said. Pinturault's fourth podium finish of the season was a fitting gift on his 21st birthday, and matched his second place finish in Kranjska Gora a year ago, the first-ever of his career. In the giant slalom standings, meanwhile, Hirschner has a 92-point lead on Ligety and will be looking to cement the title when the season comes to a close next weekend. But he will be under extra pressure because that race will be on home snow in Schladming, Austria. Ligety underlined that Saturday's victory would give him a chance of leapfrogging Hirschner in the standings. "I think this is going to make my job easier. I'm going to try to do my best," he said.