Yulo snares gold, silver in Doha

MANILA, Philippines — If there are doubts on his form after training without a coach for almost a year, Filipino world champion gymnast Carlos Yulo quashed it with impunity yesterday.

It came with a golden effort in the men’s parallel bars and a silver finish in vault in the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series in Doha, Qatar that resonated back home that he is still a force to be reckoned with.

Yulo was his old magnificent self in registering 15.200 for the parallel bars gold ahead of Chinese Taipei’s Hung Yuan-Hsi (14.966)  and Brazilian Caio Souza (14.566).

Before that, the diminutive but colossal Leveriza, Manila native claimed the silver in vault where he posted an average of 15.066, next to eventual winner Artur Davtyan of Armenia, who had a 15.166.

It was a pair of efforts that resuscitated collective hopes for Yulo and the country snaring a medal in the coming Paris Olympics.

The feats were Yulo’s firsts after ending up without a medal in last year’s World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.

It was quickly blamed on Yulo’s parting of ways with his former Japanese mentor Munehiro Kugimiya due to personal reasons.

But thanks to his Doha performance, all of those fears dissipated and turned into high hopes for Paris glory.