By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Kursten Lopez and Ancilla Lucia Mari Manzano made their medal campaigns felt at the 19th Asian Games after qualifying in the all-around and vault finals, respectively, in artistic gymnastics on Monday night in China.
Lopez, who will turn 18 in November, joins qualifiers from China, Japan, North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and India, in Wednesday’s finals at the Huanglong Sports Centre Gymnasium beginning at 3 p.m. after posting 43.565 in the all-around qualifications.
Manzano, who was part of the PH squad that won the team gold at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia last May, displayed her impressive form in her two vaults to finish with 12.583 and capture the eighth and last spot.
She tallied 12.800 on her first vault and stumbled on the second with 12.366 after getting a 0.1 penalty.
She joins North Koreans An Changok and Kim Sonhyang, who posted 13.833 and 13.583 for the top two spots, along with Japan’s Kohane Ushioku (13.449), China’s Yu Linmin (13.383), Uzbekistan’s Oksana Chusovitina (12.949), India’s Pranati Nayak (12.716), and Kazakhstan’s Darya Yassinskaya (12.633).
Manzano guns for the podium when she competes on Thursday.
She also competed in the floor exercise, but failed to make it to the Top 8 for a finals berth after coming in at 24th with 11.700.
Meanwhile, Samantha Ann Macasu failed to earn a finals slot in the uneven bars after finishing 21st in the qualifications with 10.666.
Lopez, however, did not advance to the balance beam finals after landing 26th with 11.266, as well as in the floor exercise finals after finishing 28th with 11.366.
