The Philippines’ Carlos Edriel Yulo reacts during the men’s parallel bars competition during the ninth Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships in Qatar’s capital Doha on June 18, 2022. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines-Challenging himself on every routine, Carlos Edriel Yulo felt the improvement after finishing eighth in the men’s all-around of the 51st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Liverpool, England.
Yulo appreciated the progress despite falling short of climbing the podium following an output of 82.098 in all six apparatuses in the event where the Filipino gymnastics ace hardly figure out prominently.
“I am speechless after the six events, because I’m battling with myself. It was really hard. Overall, the experience was really good. I am in the top eight, it’s not bad and it’s still a big achievement for me. I am happy, but at the same time, disappointed,” said Yulo.
Olympic gold medalist Daiki Hashimoto of Japan seized the gold medal (87.198) while Zhang Boheng of China (86.785) and Wataru Tanigawa of Japan (85.231) placed second and third.
“I need to fix my mistakes when I get back home. Other things are not bad, although I could say the vault was a positive mistake,” said Yulo, who accomplished his objective of reaching the top eight of the all-around.
Yulo was superb in the floor exercise, the event that catapulted him to world fame in 2019, and likewise topped the parallel bars with identical scores of 15.166 after winding up sixth in the rings (13.800).
The defending world champion in men’s vault, however, finished 15th in his pet event among 24 finalists after tallying 14.166 that paled in comparison with his 14.849 showing during the qualifying round.
Yulo seeks to climb the podium in the floor late Saturday evening in the apparatus final and will plunge into action in the medal phase of the vault and parallel bars on Sunday.
“Today I was having fun as well, and I don’t want to lose myself in the middle of the competition. But I kind of did, and it’s kind of my fault as well. I put more pressure on myself,” said Yulo.
The pommel horse and horizontal bar continue to be Yulo’s achilles heel, ending up 19th (11.900) and 22nd (11.900), respectively, in these events.
“Floor was good, but the pommel horse and the high bar I really need to fix. Vault was not bad and the P-bars was okay,” said Yulo.