MONTAFON, Austria — Italian snowboarder Roland Fischnaller won the season-opening World Cup parallel slalom Thursday for his 10th career victory, and Sabine Schoeffmann of Austria upset the favourites in the women’s competition for her maiden win.
Fischnaller, who won a parallel GS in Carezza, Italy, two days ago, edged Zan Kosir of Slovenia in the final by 0.06 seconds, while Mirko Felicetti made it an Italian sweep by defeating Benjamin Karl of Austria.
Schoeffmann, whose previous best finish was seventh, defeated Olympic bronze medallist Amelie Koeber of Germany in the final of the women’s event, and Alena Zavarzina of Russia beat Hilde-Katrine Engeli of Norway for third place.
Olympic champion Julia Dujmovits posted the fastest time in qualifying but was beaten in the quarterfinals.
A parallel slalom team event is scheduled for Friday.