By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Carlos Yulo put more pressure to his rivals by topping the vault and parallel bars qualification with jaw-dropping routines at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup series Thursday, March 2, at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar.
Determined to nail his first win of the year, the 23-year-old Tokyo Olympian combined power and great timing to advance to the finals of both events – scoring 14.800 in vault and 14.933 in parallel bars.
He posted 14.900 on his first vault and 14.700 on his second to get the highest average, outshining first leg winner Artur Davtyan of Israel, who came in second with 14.766.
In parallel bars, Yulo also outperformed first leg winner Ilia Kovtun of Ukraine, who posted 14.766 for second.
The Filipino champion hopes to sustain his fine form going into the medal rounds this weekend as he tries to redeem himself from his erratic showing in the first leg held in Cottbus, Germany last week.
In that event, Yulo bagged bronze in parallel bars but failed to advance in vault, rings and floor exercise.
Yulo has three chances to make it to the podium after booking a spot in the floor exercise final last Wednesday, March 1. He finished second in the qualifications.
Meanwhile, Juancho Besana failed to progress in vault after finishing 29th with a score of 12.516.