Chinese snowboarder Cai Xuetong bagged her first World Cup victory of the season on Friday, winning the half-pipe title by 3.50 points ahead of second-placed Verena Rohrer of Switzerland.

The 2017 World Championship winner hit 88.75 in her first attempt, which was enough for her to seal the victory in Secret Garden that will serve as a venue for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games three years later. Japanese Kurumi Imai scored 82.25 to win the bronze medal.

The men's title was won by Switzerland's Jan Scherrer, who scored 95.50 points in his second attempt, beating Japan's Ruka Hirano by 3.00. Another young Japanese talent Yuto Totsuka also finished on the podium just 0.25 points behind.

The slopestyle season also kicked off on Friday and saw Japanese snowboarders dominate.

Miyabi Onitsuka and Reira Iwabuchi finished the top two in the women's actions while their compatriot Takeru Otsuka won the men's title.

France's Lucile Lefevre was third in the women's competitions. Niklas Mattsson of Sweden and Vlad Khadarin of Russia took the silver and bronze respectively in the men's competition.

(Top image via VCG: Cai Xuetong poses with her gold medal after winning the women's half-pipe final in the FIS Snowboard and Freestyle Ski World Championships 2017 in Sierra Nevada on March 11, 2017.)