The Philippine representatives for men's gymnastics in the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games. POC Media
(2nd UPDATE) The Philippines finished sixth in the men's artistic gymnastics team final of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games after tallying a total of 227.359, Wednesday at the Rainbow Hall of the Nagoya General Gymnasium.
After six rotations, the Yulo brothers-led squad missed the podium, as China clinched another gold with 255.095, host Japan settled for silver with 254.026, and Chinese Taipei completed the podium finishers with 239.896.
Carlos Yulo, the country's first two-time Olympic gold medalist, had the highest individual scoring output for Team Philippines, notching 14.266 in floor exercise to top the apparatus, with his brother Eldrew posting 13.000 for 14th, while Ace de Leon had 10.933, finishing 22nd.
"For me, personally, malayo pa talaga tayo. Siguro bilang team, kung i-goal natin manalo, sobrang layo pa talaga. But at the same time nakakatuwa po kasi first time po yata na makapasok ng finals sa Asian Games bilang Team Philippines po," the elder Yulo told POC Media.
"So with that result po, sobrang ako natutuwa doon. And looking back sa mga nangyari, it's really a good result already for us, Filipinos po. So, ayun po, natutuwa ako sa performance namin today. [We] really did our best and nag-all out talaga lahat. Pagod na pagod na talaga eh. Wala na din maibigay yung iba. Pero lumaban tayo ng buong puso," he added.
The elder Yulo was fourth in vault (14.566) and tied for fifth in parallel bars (14.166), and was ninth in rings (13.333), capping an impressive individual performance for Team Philippines.
"For me, stepping stone ko para sa akin yun na mas magperform well for tomorrow and sa susunod na bukas. And today, yung vault ko. Super comfortable ako today. And relaxed lang talaga yung pakiramdam ko kanina. So it went really, really well in my opinion. And ayun yung kailangan ko i-replicate sa susunod na bukas," he said.
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Eldrew's next decent score was in horizontal bar, scoring 13.166 for ninth, while Zachary Nunez and Miguel Besana finished 18th and 19th, respectively, in that apparatus.
In the pommel horse, Nunez was 18th after listing 12.333, Besana was 21st after having 11.933, and Eldrew was second to the last after a 11.366 output.
Eldrew and Besana placed 17th and 23rd in parallel bars, as the younger Yulo concluded 10th place in vault, while de Leon was 14th.
In rings, de Leon was 16th with 12.533, and Eldrew was 18th after recording 12.233.
The Yulo brothers, as well as Besana are still set to compete in the individual finals scheduled also this week.
"Gusto ko talaga i-showcase yung pagiging artistic ng gymnastic ko and yung elegance po na ang tina-target ko talaga na ma-perform po sa nakakakabang sitwasyon. Pero I really wanted to be really graceful tomorrow and focus talaga sa mas magandang performance more than the result po," Carlos said.
"Sa floor, sobra akong naramdaman yung floor mismo. Like, parang nag-connect kami ng floor. Well, even though na my last pass is not that good or di siya yung expect ko, but alam ko na kung ano yung feeling or alam ko na kung ano yung next move ko for tomorrow. alam ko na kung ano yung i-change ko and kung paano ko siya i-change," Eldrew said, for his part.
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