Taiwanese gymnast Tang wins gold in horizontal bar at Osijek World Cup

Taipei, April 13 (CNA) Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung (唐嘉鴻) topped the men's horizontal bar event at the FIG World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, on Sunday, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season.

Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points.

It was Tang's third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March 15.

After the competition in Osijek on Sunday, Tang told CNA that the three titles were a good start to the season, and that he was continuing to make adjustments after each competition, both physically and technically.

Tang also said that he plans to shift focus to all-around training in preparation for the Asian Gymnastics Championships and the World Championships later this year.

His coach Huang Bo-rui (黃柏瑞) said Tang's strong performances this year will serve as motivation for other Taiwanese gymnasts.

According to Huang, Tang will return to Taiwan for a break before starting his preparations for the Asian championship, where he is likely to compete mainly in the all-around event.

One of Tang's goals is to help boost the performance of the Taiwan team so that it can win a medal, Huang said.