Snowboarding: Japan's Ayumu Hirano, Ruki Tomita win World Cup halfpipe golds

Less than a month before the start of the Beijing Olympics, Japanese snowboarders Ayumu Hirano and Ruki Tomita won snowboarding World Cup halfpipe competitions on Saturday.Hirano, a silver medalist at the past two Olympics, earned his first World Cup win since December 2017, while 20-year-old Tomita won for the first time on the women's tour.Japanese boarders took four of the top six spots in the men's event, with Hirano scoring 95.80 to edge out compatriot Ruka Hirano for the top spot on the podium. Germany's Andre Hoeflich was third, while Japan's Kaishu Hirano was fourth and Ikko Anai si…READ FULL ARTICLE