The Norwegian was on a high after winning his first World Cup event in Finnish resort Ruka last week and continued his fine form in Russia to overtake Markus Eisenbichler as the overall leader.

A jump of 132 metres was followed by a leap of 133 as Granerud scored 270 points to secure top spot.

Austrian Daniel Huber, who came third in the season-opening event in Wisla, registered his second podium of the season as he finished runner-up with 255.7 points, following jumps of 131m and 130.5m.

Bronze went to Norway’s Robert Johansson with 254.1, with Austria’s Thomas Lackner coming fourth on 249.3 and German Pius Paschke finishing fifth on 241.6.

There were also top-10 finishes for Russian Evgeniy Klimov, Japan’s Yukiya Satō, Slovenian Anže Lanišek and Austrian Markus Schiffner.

Germany’s Eisenbichler impressed in yesterday’s qualifying and led the way today when he jumped 135m and he eyed a third victory of the season.

But those hopes were dashed when he jumped only 80m at the second attempt, resulting in him finishing down in 28th position.

Eisenbichler now trails Granerud by 17 points in the overall FIS Ski Jumping World Cup standings, with Satō in the third after four events.

Germany's Karl Geiger, who came second in Wisla, is not competing in Russia as his wife is expecting their first child.

Austria's crystal globe holder Stefan Kraft is also absent after a positive COVID-19 test last month.

The second individual event is scheduled to take place tomorrow.