Gymnasts falter in ‘scouting’ tourney

The Philippines’ gymnastics delegation will have to make do with its underwhelming performance in the qualification phase of the FIG Individual Apparatus World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Olympic bet Carlos Yulo, Justin Ace de Leon and Jan Gwynn Timbang all finished way beyond the threshold for the final round, which has been canceled by the Azerbaijan government on Friday due to coronavirus concerns.

Yulo scored a total of 13.916 in vault (14th overall), and 11.900 in parallel bars (26th). Timbang, meanwhile, tallied 13.416 in vault (21st) and 12.650 in the floor exercises (28th).

De Leon had 12.133 in the floor exercises to finish 32nd.

Only the top eight performers per each discipline get to advance to the Final round.

Cynthia Carrion, Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president, told the Inquirer in a text message on Saturday that she is to make a report on Yulo’s development once she is back in Manila.

In a previous interview with the Inquirer, Carrion said Yulo’s stint in Baku is for the purpose of scouting the field of competition.

“He’s there to watch who is his competition so he knows who’s who,” she said.