Taipei, March 4 (CNA) Taiwan's Shiao Yu-jan (蕭佑然) clinched bronze in the pommel horse final at the 2023 FIG Apparatus World Cup in Doha, Qatar on Friday.
The 23-year-old Tokyo 2020 Olympian scored 14.833 for his smooth routine, trailing Ireland's reigning world champion Rhys McClenaghan who won silver with 15.033, and Kazakhstan's Nariman Kurbanov, who took gold with an eye-popping score of 15.400.
Japan's Sugino Takaaki -- a four-time World Cup winner, also managed to match Shiao's score of 14.833 but finished fourth as Shiao did a more difficult routine.
Shiao's coach Cheng Kun-chieh (鄭焜杰) told CNA in a telephone interview that their strategy, which was drawn up before the competition, was to focus on stability.
"We were already a bit lucky to enter the final, as the athletes who won the gold and silver medals this time have finished in the top three in the world championships in the past. So, we were aiming for the bronze medal, and Yu-jan performed quite well," Cheng said.
The latest podium finish adds to Shiao's series of World Challenge Cup medal wins last year -- a gold in Mersin, Turkey in October; a silver in Szombathely, Hungary in September-October; and a bronze in Paris, France in September.
Shiao is expected to travel to Azerbaijan on Saturday night to compete in the FIG Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus World Cup in Baku, held March 9-12.
