<p>LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland — Petra Vlhova closed in on the overall World Cup title in Alpine skiing on Saturday though a tricky opening run in slalom left her sixth behind leader Katharina Liensberger.</p>
<p>Vlhova needs only one top-14 finish this weekend to edge Lara Gut-Behrami for the overall title. Gut-Behrami skips slalom but will start in giant slalom on Sunday.</p>
<p>Aiming to be the first Slovakian overall World Cup champion, Vlhova lost speed almost going out early in her run and trailed Liensberger by 1.84 seconds.</p>
<p>Mikaela Shiffrin was third-fastest with 0.90 to make up on Liensberger, the slalom gold medalist at the world championships last month, in the second run this afternoon. Kristin Lysdahl was second, 0.70 back.</p>
<p>Liensberger became the provisional leader in the season-long slalom standings in a three-way contest with Shiffrin and Vlhova.</p>
<p>Vlhova started the day 21 points ahead of Liensberger, who would get 100 points for a race win. Shiffrin must finish ahead of Liensberger in Saturday’s race to have a chance of winning a seventh World Cup slalom title.</p>
<p>Vlhova is the defending champion in slalom but her opening run suggested the tension of protecting her lead in the overall standings.</p>
<p>“Yes, it was strange, also difficult for me,” Vlhova said in an interview with Swiss broadcaster RTS. “I (made) a mistake in the second or third gate and from there it was difficult to take confidence.”</p>
<p>Shiffrin is a three-time overall champion though chose to focus on technical events this season and did not start in super-G or downhill in the World Cup.</p>
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