The China Mail - Swiss ski star Odermatt revels in 'perfect' super-G

The 26-year-old timed almost a second faster than Austrian runner-up Raphael Haaser, with third-placed Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway, 1.31 sec adrift.

It completed a wonderful two days for Odermatt.

His closest rival in the overall World Cup race Marco Schwarz of Austria was ruled out for the rest of the season due to a serious knee injury he suffered in a fall in Thursday's downhill.

The downhill winner Cyprien Sarrazin -- who was second to Odermatt after Schwarz's mishap but trailed by over 300 points -- failed to finish on Friday.

"I had a plan and I executed it," said Odermatt, who was recording his fourth success of the campaign and 28th World Cup victory.

The race was held up after the spectacular fall of Italy's 2011 super-G world champion Christof Innerhofer, who went crashing into the safety netting.

The 39-year-old was evacuated by helicopter and taken to hospital in Sondalo, Italy.

According to an Italian ski federation spokesperson he has a calf injury.

Schwarz for his part will have to watch on from the sidelines after his dreams of the overall title lay in tatters.

The Austrian ski federation issued a statement confirming the 28-year-old Schwarz had torn knee ligaments.

He underwent scans after being taken by helicopter to hospital in Innsbruck.

"After examining the scan, the fears became a sad certainty," read a statement from the federation.

"Schwarz suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a torn meniscus and slight damage to the cartilage in his right knee."

Schwarz had targeted the overall crown by declaring he would compete in every race this season -- up to Thursday it had appeared to be paying off.

The men's circuit enjoys a brief hiatus before moving on to Swiss resort of Adelboden for races on January 8 and 9.

G.Fung--ThChM