Southeast Asian Games – Artistic Gymnastics – Olympic Marquee, Phnom Penh, Cambodia – May 8, 2023 Philippines’ Carlos Edriel Poquiz Yulo in action during the men’s qualification REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa
PHNOM PENH—Carlos Yulo hasn’t reached his peak yet, but the quick crash course seemed enough for the Philippine gymnastics hero to remain untouched at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games.
“I only had two weeks to prepare and complete all the things that I need to accomplish,’’ said Yulo after reasserting his mastery in the men’s all-around event for the third SEA Games in a row.
The former two-time world champion squeezed the victory from his favorite apparatuses—the vault and parallel bars—and was unmatched in the floor exercise was a dominant figure in the sport back in 2019.
Yulo scored 15.000 in the vault, the apparatus he ruled in the 2021 world championships, and 14.950 in the parallel bars.
Southeast Asian Games – Artistic Gymnastics – Olympic Marquee, Phnom Penh, Cambodia – May 8, 2023 Philippines’ Carlos Edriel Poquiz Yulo in action during the men’s qualification REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa
“It was a good decision to return to Manila prior to competing here. The weather is cold in Japan, so when I returned home I gradually got acclimatized,’’ said Yulo, glad of the warm weather in the Cambodian capital.
The most bemedalled Filipino athlete in the Hanoi SEA Games last year with five gold medals, Yulo wowed the judges and the crowd at the National Olympic Stadium with a magnificent routine in the floor exercise with 14.350 points.
He compiled 84.000, way ahead of silver medalist Thanh Tung Le (80.450) and bronze finisher Phuong Thanh Dinh (78.150), both from Vietnam.
Yulo also anchored the men’s team to a silver finish, duplicating their performance last year after collecting a total of 305.25 points behind gold medalist Vietnam’s 313 points.
The Japan-based Yulo will again take the mat on Tuesday in the finals of the individual apparatuses and most likely compete in the vault and parallel bars depending on the decision of his coaches.
Cambodian organizers have put a restriction that will confine Yulo to a maximum of four medals.