BERKELEY – California men's gymnastics will welcome cross-Bay rival Stanford to Haas Pavilion on Saturday night for its season-opening Cal Benefit Cup, with both teams looking to make a big splash in next week's national rankings. The first rotation is set to begin at 6 p.m. PT.
 
The Golden Bears will once again boast a strong pommel horse lineup, with senior Aidan Li leading the way in the crucial fifth spot. Li currently owns five of the top-10 scores in modern program history, including Cal's second-best mark of 14.333.
 
"Aidan has put together a world-class pommel routine for this year," head coach JT Okada said. "We're very excited about it and believe that he can contend on an international level."
 
Cal will also return graduate senior Darren Wong to its lineups for the first time since the 2021 season. Tentatively scheduled to compete on both pommel and rings this week, Wong suffered injuries in three straight years to keep him out of competition; prior to that, however, he was one of the Bears' top threats across all events and still has claim to two school records (pommel horse and parallel bars) as well as six other top-10 program scores.
 
Three of Cal's freshmen are also set to make their debuts in the Blue & Gold on Saturday. Carter Kim, Jaxon Mitchell and Tucker Yasunaga are each slated to compete in multiple events, allowing fans to catch their first glimpse of the Bears' increased depth this season.
 
The Cardinal has won each of the past four NCAA team titles and will once again field an elite squad in 2024, returning eight All-Americans to its roster. Chief among them are sophomore Asher Hong, senior Colt Walker and junior Khoi Young, who all represented the United States at the 2023 International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Championships; Young took silver on both pommel horse and vault on the world stage after finishing second in the all-around behind teammate Hong at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.
 
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