Yulo advances to final in vault, parallel bars

Yulo advances to final in vault, parallel bars

MANILA, Philippines: Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo advanced to the vault and parallel bars final at the Doha leg of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series in Qatar early Friday (Manila time).

The Paris Olympics-bound Yulo placed second in the parallel bars qualification with a score of 14.633 points on 6.0 difficulty and 8.633 execution.

Yulo, likewise, finished second in the vault qualification round with an average score of 14.966 points.

The 24-year-old gymnast from Malate, Manila garnered 15.300 points in his first attempt and 14.633 in his second.

Only the top eight athletes in each apparatus get to compete in the championship round.

Yulo, who finished 21st in the floor exercise qualification, will vie for a medal in the parallel bars and vault finale on Sunday.

Two more Filipino gymnasts competed in the tournament that offers qualifying points for the Olympics, with Emma Malabuyo and Levi Jung-Ruivivar carrying the Philippine flag in the women’s side.

Malabuyo, who is half American, strutted her wares in the floor exercise and finished 10th with a score of 12.533 on 4.6 difficulty and 7.933 in execution.

The 21-year-old Malabuyo, who entered this Doha leg with 69 Olympic qualifying points, now has to wait for the championship round results if she is going to stay in the top two of the floor exercise which merits an Olympic berth.

Per apparatus, the top two gymnasts with the highest three-meet point total will advance to the Olympics, with this Doha leg being the last of the four Word Cup legs that offer Olympic qualifying points.

Malabuyo racked up 30 points for her silver medal finish in the Cairo, Egypt leg, 14 for 13th place in Cottbus, Germany, and 25 points for fourth place in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, Jung-Ruivivar advanced to the championship round in the Doha leg uneven bars and was competing for a medal on Friday night.

The 17-year-old Jung-Ruivivar placed eighth in the qualification with a score of 13.2 points.

Like fellow Fil-Am Malabuyo, Jung-Ruivivar is also gunning for an Olympic berth.

Entering this Doha leg, she is third among eligible athletes with 44 points.

Malabuyo and Jung-Ruivivar were hoping to join another Fil-Am Aleah Finnegan to represent the Philippines in women’s gymnastics at the Paris Olympics.