Yulo blows away asian field

MANILA, Philippines — World champion Caloy Yulo pulled off a golden treble in the ninth Senior Artistics Gymnastics Asian Championships in Doha, Qatar, blowing away the opposition with magnificent shows in vault and parallel bars Saturday, going with his earlier victorious routine in floor exercise.

Yulo, 22, was spectacular in vault where he registered an average of 14.884 from his two attempts of 14.967 and 14.800 as well in parallel bars where he tallied 15.167 on a degree of difficulty scale of 6.300 and execution score of 8.867.

His dazzling acts reduced the rest of the field in awe, leaving them to fight for crumbs — the silver and the bronze that went to South Korea’s Kim Hansol and Japan’s Shiga Tachibana, respectively, in vault and Japan’s Tsuyoshi Hasegawa and China’s Yin Dehang, respectively, in parallel bars.

Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion, who was there in Doha accompanying Yulo, said the Filipino ace could have dominated the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China if not for its postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This Asian Championships is the same as the Asian Games because all of the region’s best are here,” Carrion told The STAR.

The Saturday double-gold capped a glorious performance for Yulo, who ruled his pet floor exercise Friday and snared silver in the individual all-around Thursday.

It was a grand coup hinting at a boundless horizon as Yulo competes in the World Championships in October in Liverpool, England.

This early, he’s considered as the heavy favorite not just in floor exercise and vault where he was world titlist in 2019 in Stuttgart, Germany and last year in Kitakyushu, Japan but also in other apparatuses plus the individual all around.

While Yulo was expected to reign supreme in vault in Doha, there was doubt in the parallel bars where he came in sixth in the qualifying round Friday.

That Friday effort even cost Yulo the individual all-around gold that went to Chinese Shi Cong.

But it turned out Yulo’s saving his best for the finale.

The quintuple-gold SEAG winner summoned great force, power and grace in the medal play, leaving little doubt of the outcome.

During the medal ceremony, the pocket-sized wunderkind from Leveriza, Manila was on top of the podium, the gold medal dangling around his neck as the national anthem was played and the country’s flag raised.

He proved to be the biggest star in the three-day regional meet.