Yulo flirts with disaster, vows to bounce back

Two-time Olympic champion Carlos Yulo opened his 20th Asian Games campaign in Nagoya, Japan by topping the floor exercise in Subdivision 1 of the men’s artistic gymnastics qualification round with a score of 14.600.

Yulo, however, struggled in some of his other events, 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,” he said.

He recovered in his second vault attempt, but younger brother Karl Eldrew Yulo posted higher scores in both the vault and horizontal bar.

At the end of Subdivision 1, Carlos and Eldrew occupied the top two spots in the men’s individual all-around standings.

Carlos also revealed that he has been asking his younger brother for tips, 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,” Carlos said.

Eldrew said it was overwhelming to have his two-time Olympic champion brother seek his advice, noting that he is usually the one asking Carlos for help.

Also competing for the Philippines were Miguel Besana, Zachary Nunez and Ace de Leon.

Despite leading after Subdivision 1, the Yulo brothers were not yet assured of finals spots as they awaited the results of Subdivision 2, featuring gymnasts from Japan, China, Chinese Taipei, Korea and Kazakhstan.

An Asian Games gold remains one of the major titles missing from Carlos Yulo’s medal collection, but he remains hopeful.

“May finals pa, may chance pa, may chance tayo na makapag-medal,” Yulo said.