Taiwan gymnast Tseng Wei-sheng wins gold at World Challenge Cup

Taipei, May 12 (CNA) Taiwanese gymnast Tseng Wei-sheng (曾為聖) won a gold medal in the men's vault at the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) World Challenge Cup in Bulgaria on Sunday.

Tseng "delivers big in Varna to claim gold on vault," the FIG wrote on Instagram in a video showing one of his two somersaults in the finals.

The 26-year-old Taiwanese topped the average score in the men's vault with 14.183 points, after scoring 5.2 for difficulty in his two routines and 9.033 and 8.933 for execution in each one, respectively.

It was Tseng's second gold at a World Challenge Cup competition, following his win in the men's vault in Hungary in 2022.

His coach Lin Yu-hsin (林育信) said that Tseng gave a "consistent and excellent performance" on Sunday.

"This is his first competition this year, performing new routines amid challenges under the code of points introduced for the new (Olympic) cycle," Lin told CNA.

"The routines with a 5.6 difficulty rating in the past have been lowered to 5.2," Lin said. "But Tseng was not affected, and he performed two vaults with world-class difficulty, as before."

Lin said Tseng barely moved upon landing, which showed how hard he had been training.

In the past, Tseng often made a major mistake every two vaults, and it has been some time since his silver-medal winning performance at the 2023 Summer World University Games in Chengdu, China, according to the coach.

"As long as he makes fewer mistakes, he has a greater chance of winning medals," Lin said.

Following his gold medal win on Sunday, Tseng will focus on events such as world championships, setting his sights on the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, his coach said.

The FIG's new Code of Points for the 2025-2028 cycle took effect on Jan. 1, with the new scoring rules emphasizing "the importance of technical presentation and consistent performance," the sports governing body said in a statement on Jan. 3.

"It is easier to obtain difficulty, but make sure execution is on point," the FIG said.