Soelden, Austria - Tanja Poutiainen pipped Kathrin Zettel by one hundredth of a second for victory in the alpine ski season-opener in which hosts Austria also had to swallow a grave knee injury from Nicole Hosp.

Hosp, 25, fell halfway through the first run on the Soelden glacier. She was airlifted to an Innsbruck clinic where examinations revealed the grave nature of the injury which will require surgery, according to the Austrian Press Agency APA.

The 2007 overall World Cup and giant slalom world champion Hosp could be out for the season highlighted by the Vancouver Olympics in February. She also missed several weeks of action last season when she damaged her right knee.

There was also no luck for Austria in the race results as Finland's Poutiainen clinched her ninth career World Cup win in 2 minutes 24.96 seconds, from third place after the first run.

Zettel, who had beaten Poutiainen last year in Soelden, clocked 2:24.97 while the first-run leader Denise Karbon of Italy faded to third in 2:25.28 minutes after leading until the final split.

The men have their season-opening giant slalom in Soelden on Sunday. (dpa)