Taiwanese gymnast Tseng Wei-sheng on Sunday won a gold medal in the men’s vault at the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) World Challenge Cup in Bulgaria.
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.
Photo: CNA
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 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 said.
“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, the coach said.
“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 would focus on events such as world championships, setting his sights on the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, Lin 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.
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
Dale Earnhardt Jr might already be NASCAR’s most popular crew chief. He is certainly an undefeated one. Pressed into unexpected service, Earnhardt on Saturday called the shots for 18-year-old prospect Connor Zilisch in the No. 88 Chevrolet, as they landed in victory lane in the second-tier Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway. “It felt good to have some input and decisionmaking power,” Earnhardt said. “And then helping Connor understand what our plan was so he knew when to push and what he was expected to do.” Earnhardt — who won NASCAR’s most-popular driver award 15 times — made a pit stop from his
RSS