Zettel wins World Cup slalom

Austria's Kathrin Zettel won the women's World Cup slalom in dominant style on Sunday, holding off compatriot Marlies Schild. World champion Schild was denied a 34th slalom victory, which would match the record in the discipline of Swiss great Vreni Schneider. Red-hot Slovenian Tina Maze, whose giant slalom victory on Saturday was her second in as many races in the discipline this season, settled for third. She grabbed the last podium place ahead of German Maria Hoefl-Riesch who was skiing with a bruised left arm after a crash on Saturday. Zettel, who was runner-up to Maze on Saturday, led after the opening leg, with Maze in second. Zettel then delivered a blistering top second leg of 49.72sec for a combined time of 1min 42.46sec. She finished 67-hundredths of a second faster than training partner Schild, who clocked a combined 1:43.13, with Maze third with a combined time of 1:44.27. America's four-time overall World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn, still regaining fitness after an intestinal illness that landed her in the hospital for a couple of days this month, opted not to compete. She missed a second straight slalom, having also opted out of the season opener in the discipline at Levi, Finland, won by Hoefl-Riesch.