Jr gymnasts shine in Singapore

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine gymnastics junior team put on a strong performance in the PRIME Gymnastics International Invitational Championship, racking up 71 medals including 22 golds at Bisham Sport Stadium in Singapore recently.

Southeast Asian Games campaigner Carlos Yulo and Fortunato Abad won five golds each, winning four of six titles disputed in their respective divisions to become the most be-medaled Filipino bets in the tournament which drew the region’s top junior players as well as from Australia.

Yulo, the country’s top bet for the 2014 Asian Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China, held his ground against rivals from Malaysia and Indonesia, winning the gold in the floor exercise (13.900), rings (6.627), vault (12.750) and horizontal bar (5.970). He took the silver in the overall individual standings.

His solid showing also helped power Team Phl to the team gold with a total score of 159.55 points.

Allen Christopher Lim took the overall individual gold with 57.664 points as he ruled the pommel horse (10.440), silver in rings (6.167), vault (12.520) and horizontal bar (5.370).

Jag Timbang finished third overall with 49.127 as he copped silver medals in the floor (12.400), pummel horse (9.540) and vault (12.520) and wound up with bronze medals in parallel bar (6.100) and horizontal bar (5.000).

Rafael Ablaza also won a bronze in ring (5.967) at parallel bar (6.267).

The 18-year-old Abad, meanwhile, bagged the overall individual gold in the 18-under class with 71.016 points as he dominated the pommel horse (11.370), ring (12.857), parallel bar (12.157) and horizontal bar (11.370). He finished second in the floor exercise (11.167) and vault (12.075).

“It was a strong finish by our junior team, which underwent extensive training under Romanian coach Jana. We hope to sustain our strong showing on the international stage in time for our participation in the Asian Youth Olympics next year,” said Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) president Cynthia Carrion.

Reyland Capellan completed a 1-2 finish in the overall individual ranking, finishing second to Abad with 62.917 points as he won gold in floor (13.734) and vault (13.410), while claiming silver medal in  pommel horse (4.000)0 rings (12.433), parallel bar (8.500) and horizontal bar (10.840).