Karl Eldrew Yulo again proved that he has what it takes to emerge as the next Filipino gymnast in the Summer Olympics when he bagged eight gold medals in the Chiu Wai Chung Cup in Hong Kong over the weekend.
Eldrew, the younger brother of double Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo, took the tournament by storm, securing the gold medals in the individual all-around title as well as the floor exercise, vault, parallel bars, horizontal bar, pommel horse and still rings in the junior men’s division.
The Palarong Pambansa multi-medalist also joined forces with Hillarion III Palles, King Cjay Pernia and Marc Nathan Ayson to win the team all-around title and underscore his domination in this four-nation event that also includes gymnasts from Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei and China.
All in all, the Filipinos won 14 gold medals with Yulo claiming more than half of those with eight mints.
Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion said the triumphant performance is a good boost for him as they are set to evaluate the members of the national squad in the coming weeks.
“Well, it’s good. It’s the beginning,” Carrion said, looking to field a very strong team in the 34th Southeast Asian Games in Thailand in December.
“They are really doing a good job because we also have other members that are like on the 19th, we’re going to have an evaluation. We have other people coming in that want to be part of our team, a lot are joining now that are good, you know.”
Aside from Yulo, also submitting a strong performance was Palles, who pocketed two bronze medals in the pommel horse and parallel bars.
The men’s senior team composed of Juancho Miguel Besana, Justine Ace De Leon, John Matthew Vergara, John Romeo Santillan, Jan Gwynn Timbang took home the gold medal of the team all-around in the senior men’s division.
Besana, a Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, won three mints in the Chiu Wai Chung Cup after dominating the individual all-around, floor exercise, and pommel horse.
He also got three silver medals in the still rings, vault, and parallel bars while he pocketed a bronze in the parallel bars.
De Leon also won the parallel bars and still rings while also pocketing a bronze medal in the vault.
Meanwhile, Vergara got a silver medal in the horizontal bar and a bronze medal in the parallel bars.
Santillan and Timbang both got a silver medal each in the floor exercise and pommel horse, respectively, to round out the Filipinos impressive performance.