Yulo finishes 8th in individual all-around finals

FLIRTING with a potential podium finish, Karl Eldrew Yulo got dragged down by sub-par scores in the pommel horse and rings, winding up a respectable eight place in the men’s individual all-around finals of the 3rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships yesterday.

In front of another sellout crowd, including Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Hidylin Diaz,  at the Manila Marriott Grand Ballroom at the Newport World Resorts in Pasay City, Yulo ranked as high as second with his superb floor exercise – his fourth apparatus – with the top individual score of 14.300 points.

But the younger brother of Paris Olympic double gold medalist Carlos Edriel Yulo was unable to retain his lofty spot as he dipped with scores of  13.000 and 12.066, respectively in the pommel horse and rings, and was eventually overtaken by the rest of the field who were still playing as he closed out his own campaign.

His wobbly dismount on the parallel bars after a sterling acrobatic show while he was still still in the air likewise was costly, earning  him just 12.833 points in the competition backed by the Office of the President, Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Yulo’s other scores were 13.466 on the vault and 13.006 on the horizontal bar in the tournament organized by the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines and sanctioned by the International Gymnastics Federation.

There was some concern when the Pinoy gymnast suddenly skipped the usual interview at the mixed zone to treat a sprained right ankle right away in preventing it from getting worse.

So there was collective sigh of relief from local sportswriters when he appeared  30 minutes to be interview, apologizing for the sudden delay. 

“Biglan sumakit po pagkatapos ng triple  twist ko sa floor tapos po may biglang kirot,” Yulo revealed for the reason why he was held up, keeping reporters anxious about his further participation in the tournament also backed by Smart/PLDT, Milo, Pocari Sweat and Cignal TV as the official broadcaster.

But flashing his usual sparkling smile, the athlete allayed their fears, saying: “Medyo may kirot, pero Pilipino tayo, kaya dapat ilaban. Pipilitin po nating kakayaning ito.”

Despite the slight disappointment about missing a podium finish, Yulo insisted that ” I am still proud of myself, even if I did not make it to the top 3. I got to be in the top 8 and within the top 10 after finishing the qualifications at No. 15.

“Next time I will do my very best. Hindi kinaya ng powers ko. But it’s okay since I still have some events left.”

Gymnastics chief Cynthia Carrion was also generally satisfied with the boy’s performance, pointing out that his position “still makes him the best No. 8 junior gymnast in the world.

“He really had a very good floor exercise, but is not at his best in the pommel horse and rings, which eventually pulled him down in the standings. But Eldrew assured he will go out for gold in his remaining events.”

The athlete aims to bounce back in his pet event in the floor exercise finals, where he finished second in the qualifiers last Thursday, today, before capping his campaign in the vault and horizontal bars tomorrow, Monday.