CHONGLI, Hebei Province, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's former world champion Liu Jiayu claimed her first title of the season here on Thursday at the snowboard world cup while Japanese athletes achieved a clean sweep in the men's competition.
Liu earned 92.75 points in her first ride of three to secure her first win at world cup series in nearly five years.
"It was a great honor for me to win the gold medal as it was the first time that a world cup took place here," said Liu.
Commenting on the superpipe venue which will host the halfpipe competition of the 2022 Winter Games, Liu said it had improved a lot during the last season and the performance of the riders had proved the quality of the field.
Japan's Sena Tomita took the silver medal by 87.00 points while China's Cai Xuetong finished on the third position with 82.25.
Liu and Cai respectively won the world championships in 2009 and 2015. When referring to the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, Liu, who placed fourth at the Vancouver Games in 2010 at the age of 18, said they both are working hard for the Olympics.
"Olympic champion was a dream for every rider. It was not easy, and I hope I can find the best of myself in PyeongChang and make my dream come true," said Liu.
The Japanese riders dominated the men's competition by taking the top four positions. 20-year-old Ayumu Hirano claimed the title by 97.75 points while Raibu Katayama and Yuto Totsuka placed on the second and third respectively.
"I am happy to had my second win in a row," said Hirano. "I am getting more and more confident after recovering from my injury last year."
"I am preparing some new skills and I hope to show them in PyeongChang," added Hirano, the Olympic runner-up at the Sochi Games in 2014.
