Pasini, Muranen win World Cup sprint races
Late surge in 1.3-kilometer freestyle sprint gives Pasini his first-ever win
 | Italy's Renato Pasini (left) used a late surge to overtake Russia's Alexei Petukhov and earn his first-ever World Cup race victory. |
Mikhail Metzel / AP |
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DEMINO, Russia - Renato Pasini of Italy and Finland's Pirjo Muranen recorded individual World Cup firsts in winning their respective 1.3-kilometer freestyle sprint races.
For Pasini, it was his first World Cup victory, secured with a surge in the final section to edge Russia's Alexei Petukhov and Anton Gafarov by 0.1 seconds in the final run in the men's race.
The win lifted Pasini to third place in the World Cup sprint standings with 240 points from eight races.
Ola Vigen Hattestad tops the standings with 480 points. He is followed by fellow Norwegian Tor Arne Hetland with 317.
Dario Cologna of Switzerland tops the men's overall standings with 906 points. Petter Northug of Norway is second with 698 points, followed by Germany's Axel Teichmann with 649.
Meanwhile, Muranen won her first World Cup race this season when she finished ahead of Italy's Arianna Follis and Magda Genuin.
Petra Majdic of Slovenia leads the women's sprint standings with 525 points. Aino Kaisa Saarinen of Finland is second with 296. Follis, who had her second podium finish in as many days, is third with 289.
Saarinen leads the overall World Cup standings with 1,220 points after 21 of 33 races. She is followed by Majdic (1,090) and Virpi Kuitunen of Finland (1,069).
The Norwegian team and several leading skiers skipped Saturday's races because of strong winds and low temperatures (- 18 C) at the skiing stadium next to the frozen Volga river in the Yaroslav region, about 300 kilometers north of Moscow.
The event concludes Sunday with pursuit races.
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