After winning the All-Around title at the 47th FIG World Championships last October, China’s Xiao Ruoteng was mobbed by fans on a cool afternoon at the lawn of the iconic 1976 Olympic Stadium in in Montreal, Canada.
Xiao became the first Chinese to win gold medal at a top global individual all-around competition since Yang Wei achieved the feat at the 2008 Beijing Games. 
Next week, Xiao will be one of the stars at the 11th FIG Artistic Individual World Cup, which will be held from March 21 at the Aspire Dome in Doha. 
“It feels good to be a world champion,” he said. “To be able to defend the crown in the next edition in Doha in October will be a challenge. It needs a lot of hard work and motivation.”
Given the presence of the legend Kohei Uchimura, the 22-year-old Xiao will have his task cut out, but age will be on his side. While the 28-year-old ‘King Kohei’ would be hoping to revive his form and fitness at the venue which will host the 48th FIG World Championships in October, Xiao will look to further strengthen his position as China prepare for the 2020 Tokyo 
Olympic Games.
Xiao, who also won the pommel horse bronze at the Worlds, has slowly developed into a world champion ever since he won his maiden medal at the 2015 Glasgow Worlds with the Chinese team, which finished third.
Despite not being chosen for the 2016 Rio Games, Xiao returned with a bang with loads of confidence the following year, winning three gold (team, pommel horse and all-around) and two silver medals (floor and horizontal) at the Bangkok Asian Championships. The Beijing-born gymnast is undoubtedly the next biggest star, but we will have to wait to watch how he fares at the Doha event. Around 40 countries will participate in the annual championship, organised by the Qatar Gymnastics Federation. Qatar has fielded two of its promising gymnasts Jana Kiki and Ahmed Nabil. 
The Doha leg of FIG Individual Apparatus World Cup for men and women is celebrating its 11th edition this year. With unstinted support from the Qatar Olympic Committee, the QGF is leaving no stone unturned in making the event a truly world class one.
The qualifications will be held on first two days of the championship, with eight best gymnasts making it to the finals and will strive for medals on the last two days of the competition.

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