Eldrew eyes ‘floor’ crown

Karl Eldrew Yulo gets another crack at the gold medal as he competes in the men’s floor exercise final in the Antalya leg of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series in Turkey on Saturday.

It will be Yulo’s third finals appearance in a senior level tournament after competing in the gold medal round of the floor exercise and horizontal bar in Baku last week.

The 18-year-old Yulo, the younger brother of double Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo, booked a slot in the final after scoring 13.666 points. He is competing in three more apparatus to increase his chances of winning a medal at press time.

Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion said she wants Yulo to build up the confidence in facing skilled gymnasts in the senior level.

“I asked Eldrew not to be intimidated and just do his best. I have been to a lot of competitions and I am worried for Eldrew as it is his just his second seniors tournament,” Carrion said.

Yulo is up against a stacked field bannered by Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Rayderly Zapata of Spain and Paris Summer Games bronze medalist Tang Chia Hung of Chinese Taipei.

Completing the eight-man cast are Anze Hribar of Slovenia, Theodor Gadderud of Norway, Eamon Montgomery of Ireland, Abdulaziz Mirvaliev of Uzbekistan and Cheung Ching of Hong Kong.

Yulo is using the World Cup Series as part of his preparation for tournaments like the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan from 19 September to 4 October and the 54th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands from 10 to 17 October.