Yulo enters vault, bars final

Carlos Yulo bounced back from a dismal showing in the men’s floor exercise as he booked a place in the final of the vault and parallel bars in the 2024 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series at the Aspire Dome in Doha Friday.

Yulo finished in second place in both apparatus, scoring 14.966 points in vault and 14.633 points in the parallel bars.

He takes a crack at the podium on Sunday.

Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion told DAILY TRIBUNE that the 24-year-old gymnast is only using the tournament as a buildup for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“Carlos is second place in finals for vault and p-bar and not trying so hard as he is already qualified,” Carrion said.

Earlier, Filipino-American gymnast Emma Malabuyo failed to make it to the final of the women’s floor exercise.

Malabuyo finished at 10th place after scoring 12.533 points in the tournament which gives out qualifying points for aspiring Olympians.

So far, the University of California-Los Angeles gymnast remains in second place in the women’s floor exercise rankings after four legs in the World Cup in Cairo, Cottbus (Germany), Baku and Doha.

Only three out of the four scores will be computed as she has 69 points after her stints in the first three tournaments before her stint in the Qatari capital.

Malabuyo won the gold medal in the Cairo leg last February and clinched a silver medal in Baku last March, giving her a good chance of making it to the Summer Games along with Yulo and Aleah Finnegan.

However, her qualification remains uncertain as Laura Casabuena of Spain, currently third in the World Cup rankings in the women’s floor exercise, can eliminate her.

The Spanish gymnast will compete in the final of the floor exercise and a gold or silver medal on her part could end Malabuyo’s bid to reach the French capital.

But if Casabuena gets anything lower than a silver medal, Malabuyo gets a Paris slot.

As of press time, Levi Ruivivar is competing in the final of the women’s uneven bars and a gold medal could boost her chances as well to qualify.