Hirscher closes in on fourth straight title

It would be hugely unlikely for the Austrian not to win the title this weekend as he leads nearest rival Kjetil Jansrud by 60 points heading into Sunday's final slalom with the Norwegian as yet undecided whether he will take part in the decisive race.

To cause an upset, speed specialist Jansrud would have to finish second and hope the three-times World cup champion is eliminated.

While he started as a slalom specialist, Jansrud, the winner of the 2015 downhill and Super-G crystal globes, has not had a top-15 finish in the discipline since 2006.

"I needed to finish ahead of Kjetil at all costs today. What's happening is just great. We'll have to see what Kjetil decides to do tomorrow. But while it's 99 percent done, we'll just have to wait and see," a cautious Hirscher said.

Jansrud's team mate Krsitoffersen clinched his first World Cup slalom victory of the season on Saturday.

Boosted by his two gold medals at the junior world championships a week ago, the 20-year old Norwegian clocked two minutes and 17.36 seconds to beat Germany's Fritz Dopfer by 0.79 seconds while France's Thomas Fanara was third, 0.97 adrift.

Skiing more conservatively to secure vital points, Hirscher, who had already bagged the discipline title, was 1.18 off the pace.

Jansrud, the Olympic giant slalom silver-medallist in Vancouver in 2010, fought bravely to stay in contention, finishing 11th after clocking the second fastest time in the afternoon run.

"I was really surprised just how good he was in the second leg. But when you see that I finished fourth in Thursday's Super-G, anything can happen," Hirscher said

Jansrud is yet to make up his mind about Sunday's finale.

"I still don't know what I'll do tomorrow," he said.

"I previously said that I didn't want to spoil the show knowing that Marcel is still in contention for the slalom globe and he should be focused and relaxed without having to think about the overall.

"I must play it intelligently and decide calmly even though my decision is 99 percent made."