Liu, the 2014 world champion on the apparatus, produced an impressive display at the Lausitz-Arena.

He scored a total of 15,100 points to qualify in first position, with Greece’s Olympic and three-time world champion Eleftherios Petrounias second on 14.933.

Britain’s Courtney Tulloch rounded off the top three on 14.766.

Hao Weng ended as the top qualifier for the men’s pommel horse final as Chinese gymnasts continued to perform strongly.

His score of 15.100 points was narrowly ahead of Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev, who finished on 15.066.

Stephan Nedoroscik placed third in qualification with the American achieving a tally of 14.933 points.

Men’s qualification continued with Japan’s Kazuki Minami top scoring on the floor with 14.866 points.

He was followed by Russia’s Kirill Prokopev and Britain’s Hayden Skinner, who managed 14.666 and 14.466 points respectively.

Russia’s Anastasiia Iliankova held off a Chinese challenge to finish as the top scorer in women’s uneven bars qualification.

Iliankova was rewarded for her routine with a score of 14.533 points, with China’s Yilin Fan and Sisi Yin trailing on 14.466 and 14.433.

Their team-mate Linmin Yi, however, led women’s vault qualification by a strong margin.

She managed a total of 14.704 points, with her nearest rival Maria Paseka of Russia following on 14.299.

Slovenia’s Teja Belak completed the top three on 14.166 points.

Qualification is due to continue tomorrow with gymnasts competing on five more apparatus, before attention turns to finals during the last two days of the event.