Yulo continues stellar run in Doha World Cup, qualifies for vault, parallel bar finals

MANILA, Philippines, March 4 ------ Make that three golden chances for Carlos Yulo. Yulo reached two more finals in the Doha, Qatar leg of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series as he qualified in vault and parallel bars on Thursday, March 2 (Friday, March 3, Manila time).

The Filipino gymnastics star topped the qualification in both events, garnering 14.8 points in vault and 14.933 points in parallel bars to continue his stellar campaign in Doha after also advancing to the final of floor exercise. It will not be a walk in the park for Yulo, though, as he faces a stiff challenge in the two events from foes who bested him in the past.

Armenia’s Artur Davtyan landed second in vault with 14.766 points, while Ukraine’s Illia Kovtun finished behind Yulo in parallel bars with 14.766 points. Davtyan denied Yulo of back-to-back vault world titles last November after a neck-and-neck battle that saw the Armenian edge the Filipino for the gold by just a tenth of a point.

Others who made it to the vault final were Japan’s Kazuki Minami, Israel’s Andrey Medvedev, Hong Kong’s Shek Wai Hung, Iran’s Mahdi Olfati, Ukraine’s Igor Radivilov, and Vietnam’s Trinh Hai Khang.

Kovtun, meanwhile, clinched the parallel bars gold in the first World Cup leg in Cottbus, Germany last week as Yulo settled for bronze after placing first in the qualification. Joining Yulo and Kovtun in the parallel bar final included Turkey’s Ferhat Arican and Adem Asil, Colombia’s Dilan Jimenez Giraldo, Japan’s Koki Maeda, Kazakhstan’s Milad Karimi, and Romania’s Andrei Vasile Muntean.

The vault and parallel bar finals are scheduled on Saturday, March 4. But before those, Yulo will go for gold in the floor exercise final on Friday against reigning Olympic champion Artem Dolgopyat of Israel and six others.

Source: rappler.com