NAGOYA — Two-time Olympic gold medalist gymnast Carlos Yulo will compete in only four apparatuses in the men's team event final on Wednesday at the Nagoya City General Gymnasium in Japan.
Philippine Men's Artistic Gymnastics Team head coach Aldrin Castañeda told POC Media that Yulo will still compete in the team final, which will also help him prepare for his individual apparatus finals.
Yulo qualified for the finals in three individual events: floor exercise, vault, and parallel bars.
"Carlos Yulo will play in the men’s team event in four apparatuses only — rings, parallel bars, vault, and floor exercise. So, this will serve as his warmup for the apparatus finals. Carlos and Eldrew know how important these apparatus finals are. They will surely go for the gold medals," Castañeda told POC Media.
"Maaga lang, apat lang naman. Okay lang naman [paglalaro ni Carlos sa team]," he added.
POC Media pool
The Philippines ranked sixth in the team qualifications with 232.093 points.
Ahead of the Philippines in the top five are China, Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan, and Chinese Taipei, which edged the country by 3.834 points.
Given the high level of competition, Castañeda is tempering expectations for the men's team.
"But we must manage our expectations in the team event; China and Japan are very strong. We will give them a good fight, though," he said.
"We see at least two gold medals in floor exercise and vault, and one bonus medal in parallel bars," Castañeda added.
Yulo likewise remained optimistic that they can deliver a strong performance.
"Hindi naman din siya ganoon kadali po kasi magaling talaga 'yung mga gymnast ng Japan, China, Korea. Malakas din 'yung Kazakhstan ngayon. So hindi ko sinasabing madali siya pero naniniwala akong kaya talaga natin na makuha 'yung magandang resulta at magandang performance sa mga susunod na araw," Yulo told POC Media.
"Unang-una, may chance tayo na makapag-medal. Hopefully, sana mas maging maganda 'yung performance natin sa finals," he said.
Carlos' younger brother, FIG World Cup gold medalist Eldrew Yulo, will also compete in the floor exercise and horizontal bar finals.
Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Miguel Besana will compete in the vault final alongside Carlos.
Ahead of the men's team final, Castañeda said the team is locked in and ready to represent the country.
"We trained earlier peacefully… no distractions, all focus on what they do," Castañeda said.
"Chloe and the Filipino people are Carlos's inspiration, and the same goes for Eldrew. Masaya si Carlos at Eldrew so far," he added.
The men's artistic gymnastics team final will take place at 11 a.m. at the Nagoya City General Gymnasium Rainbow Hall.
The Philippines' participation in the Asian Games is supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).