NAGOYA, Japan — Two-time Olympic champion Carlos Yulo advanced to three apparatus finals while younger brother Karl Eldrew Yulo booked spots in two as the Philippines opened its 20th Asian Games campaign with a mixed but promising showing in men’s artistic gymnastics.
Carlos topped the floor exercise qualification in Subdivision 1 with 14.600 points, built on a 5.7 difficulty score and 8.900 execution score. He also advanced to the parallel bars final in sixth place with 14.266 points and the vault final despite a fall on his first attempt.
The elder Yulo, however, struggled on several apparatus, including the vault and horizontal bar.
“Hindi siya lumabas sa preparation na gusto ko… ang daming learnings din na pwede kong baunin sa mga susunod na araw (It did not come out the way I prepared for it … there are many lessons I can take with me in the coming days),” Yulo said.
He recovered on his second vault attempt to secure a spot in the final.
Yulo said he was particularly disappointed with his first vault and a mistake on the horizontal bar, where he fell after failing to properly grab the bar.
“Hindi yun yung tamang pag-grab and nung nalaglag ako, I was really disappointed but at the same time thankful na safe ako kanina kasi yung ganung pagkakamali pwedeng matapos na yung career na meron ako (That was not the right way to grab it, and when I fell, I was really disappointed but at the same time thankful that I was safe because that kind of mistake could have ended my career),” he said.
He also explained that he had brought back a high-bar skill he had stopped performing for several years as a way to challenge himself and approach the event differently.
“Sa high bar din um nahulog ako. After how many years po kasi, tinigil ko yung skill na yun. And then binalik ko siya ulit just to challenge po yung sarili ko and mas makapag-look ng ibang perspective (I also fell on the high bar. After several years, I had stopped doing that skill. Then I brought it back to challenge myself and look at it from a different perspective),” Yulo said.
Despite the mistakes, Yulo said he remained grateful to compete for the Philippines and finish the qualification safely.
“It's just really ano, trial and error pa din. And at the end of the day I still did what I … what's my ano po yung best ng makakaya ko (It's still really trial and error, and at the end of the day, I did the best I could),” he said.
Yulo finished 10th in the individual all-around qualification with 75.465 points.
Eldrew makes his mark
Karl Eldrew, meanwhile, produced a strong qualification campaign of his own, advancing to the floor exercise and horizontal bar finals.
He placed fourth in floor exercise with 13.966 points and ninth on the horizontal bar with 13.433. He advanced on the latter despite his ranking because only two gymnasts per National Olympic Committee can qualify for each apparatus final.
Eldrew also finished eighth in the individual all-around with 77.264 points.
The younger Yulo said he was grateful that the Filipino gymnasts remained safe despite the mistakes and setbacks.
“[Ang] nafe-feel ko po is grateful dahil lahat kami is safe and of course super proud din ako sa nangyari kanina. And dahil well may mga bagay din ako na hindi nagawa tulad ng pommel, sa rings, and of course sa p-bar. But I keep telling myself na change mood to change mood every time na nagcha-change kami ng apparatus to feel the other energy (I feel grateful that all of us are safe and, of course, I'm also very proud of what happened. There were things I wasn't able to do, like on the pommel horse, rings, and the parallel bars. But I keep telling myself to change my mood every time we change apparatus to feel a different energy),” Eldrew said
Carlos, despite being the more decorated gymnast, has also been turning to his younger brother for advice, particularly on the horizontal bar.
“Hindi ko kayang gawin yung ginagawa niya sa high bar. Nagtatanong po ako sa kanya … yung feeling and yung technique (I can't do what he does on the high bar. I ask him about the feeling and the technique),” Carlos said.
For Eldrew, having his Olympic champion brother seek his advice was a different experience.
He said it was overwhelming because he is usually the one asking Carlos for guidance.
More finals spots for PH
Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Miguel Besana also advanced to the vault final after placing fourth in the qualification with 13.933 points.
The Philippines finished sixth in the team qualification with 232.093 points.
Carlos and Eldrew initially occupied the top two spots in the all-around standings after Subdivision 1, but their final qualification rankings changed after the remaining subdivisions were completed.
The results also left Carlos with three opportunities to add to his medal haul in Nagoya: floor exercise, parallel bars and vault.
An Asian Games gold remains one of the major titles missing from his collection, but the 30-year-old gymnast remains focused on the remaining competition.
“May finals pa, may chance pa, may chance tayo na makapag-medal
(There are still finals, there is still a chance, we still have a chance to win a medal),” Yulo said.
The Yulo brothers will now turn their attention to the apparatus finals, where they will seek to convert their qualification performances into medals for Team Philippines. PR