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By Lin Yueh-fu and Shelley Shan / Staff reporters
Taiwanese gymnast Hsiao Yu-jan (蕭佑然) yesterday won his first gold medal in pommel horse at the International Gymnastics Federation Artistic Gymnastics World Cup series in Cottbus, Germany, becoming the third Taiwanese man to obtain the top prize in a high-level international gymnastics tournament.
Hsiao clinched the win with a total of 14.433 points.
The competition, the first of six this season, gave Hsiao a chance to test new moves in front of judges in the lead-up to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Photo courtesy of Hsiao Yu-jan’s coach Cheng Kun-chieh
During the qualifier, Hsiao finished third with a total score of 14.2.
For the final, he and his coach decided to elevate the level of difficulty for the moves to 5.7. His close to perfect execution of his routine enabled him to defeat two-time Asian Games gold medalist Ahmad Abu al-Soud of Jordan.
In 2023, Hsiao also won the bronze medal in pommel horse at the International University Sports Federation World University Games in Chengdu, China.
Photo courtesy of Fong You-jhu’s coach Lin Fang-Yu
He joins Taiwan’s Lee Chih-kai (李智凱), who won the silver medal in pommel horse at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and Tang Chia-hung (唐嘉鴻) as the top Taiwanese in the sport.
Lee won a gold medal in pommel horse in Taipei at the 2017 World University Games, then known as the Universiade, as well as in 2019 and 2023. He also won gold at the 2018 and 2022 Asian Games.
Tang won the gold medal on the horizontal bar in the 2018 Asian Games and in the 2019 World University Games.
Hsiao is next to compete at the World Cup series in Antalya, Turkey, from March 20 to March 23.
Separately, 18-year-old Taiwanese archer Fong You-jhu (風佑築) yesterday won the silver medal in women’s recurve compound competition at the Asia Cup-World Ranking Tournament, Stage 1 in Bangkok.
Fong originally led the event with a perfect 30 in two consecutive rounds, but Indian archer Basanti Mahato staged a comeback in the third round with a perfect score and continued to dominate until the fifth round.
Fong’s coach, Lin Fang-yu (林芳瑜), said she used to compete mainly in youth games, adding that this was her first tournament against adults.
“Our goal was for Fong to make the semi-finals. She exceeded that by making it to the finals and performing really well in the first two rounds. However, her opponent also made quick adjustments. It was a high-intensity event. I believe she has gained some valuable experiences,” Lin said.
Fong is also to compete in this year’s World University Games in Germany’s Rhine-Ruhr region and is aiming to making the national team for the World Archery Championships and other international events.
In the men’s recurve compound event, Taiwanese archer Liu Tai-yen (劉泰言) staged a comeback in the fourth round with three consecutive 10-point shots to overcome Malaysia’s Muhammad Syafiq Busthamin for the bronze medal.
Liu last year won the bronze medal at the Asia Cup Suwon in South Korea.
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