Berki, unable to defend the title he won at London 2012 in Rio de Janeiro due to injury, finished on a total of 15.066 points at the Lausitz Arena Cottbus.

He was unable to claim top spot, however, as Robert Seligman of Croatia was awarded the same score for his routine but clinched pole position thanks to a higher difficulty level.

Saso Bertoncelj of Slovenia ended the qualification round in third place having scored 14.633 points.

In the rings event, Igor Radivilov, bronze medallist at London 2012, was a class apart.

The Ukrainian scored 15.500 points, 0.800 ahead of Nick Klessing, who put in a solid performance in front of his home crowd, which yielded 14.700 points.

Japan’s Yuya Kamoto, all-around gold medallist at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and a three-time Asian Games champion, was third with 14.666.

European Games gold medallist Rayderley Miguel Zapata, of Spain who finished third at last year’s World Championships in Glasgow, was the leading performer in the men’s floor qualification as he reasserted his dominance on the apparatus with a score of 15.400 points.

Naoto Hayasaka of Japan did enough for second places thanks to his routine being given 15.266 points, with Slovenian Rok Klavora third on 14.766.

Hungary's Zsófia Kovács leads the way in the uneven bars by virtue of her total of 14.333 points.

German duo Kim Janas and Leah Griesser follow in second and third place having scored 14.000 and 13.666 points respectively.

Emily Little of Australia produced the best vault, rewarded with 14.333 points from the judges, while Dorina Boeczoego of Hungary narrowly pipped Kovács into second place.

The opening FIG Individual Apparatus World Cup event of the season is due to continue tomorrow with qualification before the finals are held at the weekend.