Fischnaller uses home advantage for World Cup win

By Sportsbeat staff

ROLAND Fischnaller used home advantage to close the gap at the top of the FIS Parallel Giant Slalom Snowboard World Cup standings with victory in Carezza, Italy.

The Italian beat Benjamin Karl of Austria in the final to claim maximum points in front of a home crowd, closing the gap between the top two in the process.

Karl, the parallel giant slalom silver medal winner from last year's Vancouver Winter Olympics, still leads the rankings but his advantage is now just ten points from Fischnaller.

Completing the men's podium was Slovenian Rok Flander in third, beating Andreas Prommegger in the small final, the Austrian holding onto to his third place in the overall standings.

Meanwhile, in the women's event, there was joy for Canadian Caroline Calve as she claimed her first World Cup victory of the season.

Calve held off the attentions of German Amelie Kober in the big final for the win, propelling her into fourth overall.

Kober meanwhile closed the gap on overall leader Fraenzi Maegert-Kohli to just 400 points after the Swiss woman could only manage tenth in Italy, while Marion Kreiner from Austria collected her second bronze in three rounds.

© Sportsbeat 2011