ADELBODEN, Switzerland - Double world champion Mario Matt returned to winning ways with victory in a men's World Cup slalom in Adelboden on Sunday.

Austria's Mario Matt passes a gate on his way to setting the fastest time during the first run of a men's alpine ski world cup Special Slalom race , in Adelboden, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan, 6, 2008. [Agencies]

The Austrian had failed to finish his last two slaloms but surged back to secure a ninth career World Cup victory and the eighth in his favourite discipline.

Matt prevented team mate and Olympic champion Benjamin Raich from celebrating a rare treble of three successive slalom victories in Adelboden, one of the most challenging technical pistes on the circuit, by just 0.10 seconds.

Germany's Felix Neureuther was third, 0.04 seconds behind the current World Cup leader, after recovering well from a big mistake in the first leg.

Matt's win was all the more unexpected because the Austrian hurt his back in training in the morning and nearly pulled out before the start. The rain, which had made the piste very slippery at the top, did not help either.

"It's more than I would have hoped for. I was lucky but the harder, the better," he said. "It's a relief because I have been in sparkling form in practice this winter but never managed to ski two good runs in competition."

Raich had placed a disappointing fifth after the first leg but powered back with a fantastic afternoon run. His girlfriend Marlies Schild had earlier won a women's slalom in the Czech resort of Spindleruv Mlyn.

"I saw Marlies win her race and it was a great joy. I would have loved to win on the same day, which is something we have not managed yet," Raich said.

Second and third respectively after the first leg, Croatia's Ivica Kostelic and American Ted Ligety faded in the second.

Kostelic was sixth while Ligety, the combined Olympic champion, failed to finish just as he had in Saturday's giant slalom.

Swiss skiers failed to live up to their one-two in Saturday's race. Both Marc Berthod and Daniel Albrecht failed to complete the first run.

Berthod won Adelboden's slalom last year and Saturday's giant slalom.

The men's World Cup stays in Switzerland for a downhill, super-combined and slalom in Wengen next week.