World Cup in China

Sabine Payer wins, Benjamin Karl also strong

Sabine Payer(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Sabine Payer celebrated her eighth individual victory in the Snowboard World Cup on Sunday. The Carinthian, who started fourth in qualifying, won the parallel slalom final in Mylin (China) by 0.17 seconds ahead of Tsubaki Miki from Japan. Claudia Riegler was the second best Austrian in fifth place. In the men's competition, Benjamin Karl finished in second place, just five hundredths of a second behind winner Maurizio Bormolini from Italy.

Payer now has 14 World Cup triumphs including team competitions. "That was a perfect race today, in which I improved from run to run," said the 32-year-old and was delighted with her first victory under a new name. Payer, formerly Schöffmann, married her snowboard colleague Alexander Payer last July. The day before, she had finished fifth in the parallel giant slalom.

Karl only just beaten
Karl was also happy, even though he missed out on victory by a wafer-thin margin. "The hundredths thriller continues. But I'm very happy about this podium after I was very disappointed with ninth place in the PGS yesterday, but I chose the wrong setting on the edges. It was a great final, the five hundredths don't hurt either, they just show that I've also become faster in the slalom," said Karl, who took his 50th podium place in a World Cup individual competition (22 wins, 16 second places, 12 third places).

With Arvid Auner (5th), Matthäus Pink (8th), Andreas Prommegger (11th) and Dominik Burgstaller (15th), four other ÖSV men reached the final of the top 16. The next World Cup stop for the alpine boarders in China is Yanqing next weekend, where a parallel giant slalom and a parallel slalom will also be held.