Korpi tops World Cup standings after victory in Canada

FINLAND'S Janne Korpi scored his first halfpipe gold of the season at the Snowboarding World Cup event in Stoneham, Canada.

FLYING AHEAD: Finland's Janne Korpi assumes the lead in the halfpipe World Cup standings after his first win of the season (Getty Images)

The 23-year old had been absent from the podium since striking big air gold in Stockholm in November 2008.  However, he top-scored in both runs in the final to record his sixth career World Cup gold.

Korpi eventually needed his second run of 45.7 to win ahead of Canada's defending champion Jeff Batchelor who scored 44.3 with his second effort.

The Finn's victory propelled him to the top of the halfpipe World Cup standings on 1730 with Japan's Kazuhiro Kokubo second on 1600 and compatriot Antti Autti up to third after scooping bronze in Stoneham.

Meanwhile, junior world champion Xuetong Cai won the women's event in Stoneham, scoring 46.6 with her second run to leapfrog compatriot Zhifeng Sun into the top spot.

Sun's first run of 42.7 was good enough for her second silver of the season while another Chinese competitor, Xu Chen captured bronze on 40.5.

The same three occupy the top spots after four events of the World Cup season with Cai top on 2240, Sun second on 1805 and Chen third on 1390.