HOENGSEONG, South Korea — Japan's Ryoh Aono dominated the World Cup halfpipe championship Friday, nailing his second gold of the season — and the world title — with two electrifying runs.

China's Liu Jiayu came back from a hard fall on the first run to claim the women's title as the two up-and-coming athletes made history by becoming Asia's first snowboarding World Cup champions.

Aono, fresh off a gold medal in Gujo, Japan, kicked off his first run Friday with a soaring opening stalefish grab and five flawless tricks that earned him 45.5 points.

France's Mathieu Crepel, nicknamed "Little Monkey" for his trademark agility, opened with back-to-back 1080s — a trick that involves making three full rotations in the air — for 43.3 points. That put him second at the close of the first round, with Ilkka-Eemeli Laari of Finland in third with 41.9 points.

In the second round, Canada's Jeff Batchelor bounced back from a lackluster first performance with a huge run that earned him 44.4 points — enough to seize the silver from Crepel and leave Laari in fourth.

With the Gangwon gold already his as the men's competition drew to a close, Aono dropped into the pipe for the final run of the day: another performance showing off his stylish grabs and two tight 1080s that sealed his title as the new halfpipe champion.

The 18-year-old is also his country's first World Cup champion.

"At the last worlds two years ago, I didn't even make the final so I've been practicing so hard since then," he said. "I'm so glad I could achieve what I've done in this championship."

Batchelor hadn't expected to win, saying he was coming off several injuries.

"Didn't think I could do it but here I am. My coach says I work pretty well under pressure," he said.

"I guess I'm a last-minute person — it's been that way through my qualifiers," he said with a chuckle. "Fall on the first run, manage to squeak by on the second."

Crepel, who hasn't competed in two years, said "it didn't work out but it was just a good contest" and called the level of competition "pretty amazing."

In the women's contest, Liu — feeling the pressure after winning gold at Gujo earlier this month — wiped out in her first run, earning just 8.0 points for the disappointing showing.

The 18-year-old rallied back with a powerful second run, nailing four big tricks that judges awarded with 43.5 points.

Asked how she managed to regroup, Liu said she turned to her coaches for guidance between runs. Afterward, "I felt very relaxed and I tried my best to believe in myself," she said. "And I did it."

Holly Crawford of Australia held onto her clean first run for the women's silver, while Paulina Ligocka of Poland redeemed herself after wiping out in the first round with an impressive second run. She edged out Soko Yamaoka of Japan and Spain's Queralt Castellet for the bronze.

"I just tried to focus on my run and do what I can and what I did before ... and it worked," Ligocka said.

The championships at Hyundai Sungwoo Resort, the first snowboarding World Cup championships held in Asia, will conclude Saturday with the men's big air competition, with medals already distributed for halfpipe and three other disciplines: snowboardcross, parallel giant slalom and parallel slalom.