Slovakia's Vlhova defends title at slalom world cup season opener

BRATISLAVA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Slovakia's Petra Vlhova edged arch-rival Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States by 0.31 seconds to defend her slalom title at the season opening women's alpine skiing World Cup in the Finnish resort of Levi on Saturday.

German skier Lena Duerr finished third, trailing by 0.84 seconds.

Levi has become Vlhova's favorite and most successful resort as she won both slaloms here l