Liu and Ayumu win first ever Halfpipe World Cup in Secret Garden

Jiayu Liu (CHN) and Ayumu Hirano (JPN) have lived up to the expectations of being among the top favourites for a win in the first ever Halfpipe World Cup staged in Secret Garden, China which will be one of the hosting venues for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Liu repeated her strong qualifier performance stomping again a switch method to cab 720, back-to-back 540's and a final frontside 720 to walk away with her career's ninth.

The two-time Olympian, who had won the so far sole Halfpipe World Cup in China in Yabuli back in 2011, earned 92.75 relegating Japan's Sena Tomita (87.00), a first timer on the podium and two-time World Champion Xuetong Cai (CHN; 82.25) to the second and third rank, respectively.

The men's event was a demonstration of strength from the riders of the land of the rising sun with Ayumu leading a Japanese podium sweep.

Fresh off a Copper Mountain World Cup win, the 19-year-old brought home his back-to-back win in style.

The 2014 Olympic Silver medallist, who is the undisputed World Cup leader now with two wins and one second rank finish in so far three events, underlined with an almost perfect score of 97.75 that he is currently setting the bar in men's halfpipe riding.

Ayumu started his run off with a massive method before going into a frontside double cork 1440 to cab double cork 1080 and a frontside 1260 while finishing things off with a back-to-back 900 combo.

Best qualifier Raibu Katayma earned a 90.75 for his method to frontside 1440, cab double cork 1080, frontside 900, backside 900 and frontside double cork 1080 to place in second position edging off Japan's national champion Yuto Totsuka to the third rank (90.50).

The Snowboard Freestyle World Cup tour will now take a break until 2018 when riders will descend on Snowmass, USA to compete in this season's fourth halfpipe and second slopestyle World Cup slated to take place from January 10 to 13.