Skiing Roundup : Canadian Wins, American 3rd in Japan

Canada’s Liisa Savijarvi scored her first World Cup victory Sunday at Furano, Japan, and Pam Fletcher of the United States finished a surprising third in a super-giant slalom race.

Savijarvi, who started 34th, skied down the 6,069-foot course--with 37 gates and a drop of 1,469 feet--in 1 minute 20.43 seconds.

“The hill was in good shape,” Savijarvi said. “In training, I skied very well and I thought it’s possible that I could win. I was a later starter and the track was fast but it was good for me.”

Savijarvi also moved up into 11th place from 14th spot in overall point standings with 108 points.

Maria Walliser of Switzerland finished 23rd, but still leads the overall standings with 231 points, ahead of Erika Hess of Switzerland, who had 217. Marina Kiehl of West Germany leads the super-giant slalom point standings with 50 points, ahead of Michaela Marzola of Italy, who has 47, and Savijarvi at 41.

Austrian Sieglinde Winkler finished second in 1:21.04, and Fletcher--from the 42nd starting position--was third in 1:21.09.

“I just could not believe it,” said Fletcher, of Westford, Mass. “It was my best time in my career. The snow condition was fast and rough for the later starters but I skied well. I’m so happy.”

U.S. team leader Erik Steinberg of Vail, Colo., said: “The course for about two-thirds of the way was almost straight. It was an advantage for Canadian and American skiers because they like the downhill rather than the super-g.”

Austrian Gunther Mader clocked the fastest time in both runs to win his first World Cup slalom race of the season at Geilo, Norway, and Yugoslav Roc Petrovic placed third and secured the overall slalom title.

Mader clocked an aggregate time of 1 minute 409.66 seconds for two runs, finishing 0.81 seconds ahead of Paul Frommelt of Liechtenstein, with Petrovic another eight hundredths of a second behind.

Petrovic, with 120 points from four wins and a second place, did not add to his total but clinched the slalom crown when his only surviving rival, Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark was disqualified in the first run of Europe’s last slalom of the season.

Stenmark, with 95 points, could have tied Petrovic by winning the last three slaloms--Sunday’s race and two later this month at Aspen, Colo., and Lake Placid, N.Y.