DOHA: Carlos Edriel Yulo of the Philippines started where he had left off at the Aspire Dome last October when he won his country’s maiden medal at the 48th FIG Artistic World Championships.
On Friday, the 19-year-old returned to the iconic venue and regaled the handful of Filipino expats by winning a bronze in men’s floor final at the 12th FIG ART Individual Apparatus World Cup.
Yulo, who collected 14.266 points for his efforts, finished behind Alexander Shatilov (ISR) and Rayderley Zapata (ESP). But 2017 All-Around champion Xiao Ruoteng (CHN) disappointed with a seventh-place finish (13.166).
The teenager has been in terrific form off late after he claimed a gold in the year’s opening World Cup in Melbourne (AUS), and will be among the frontrunners to seal an Olympic berth for next year’s Tokyo Games.
The World Cup series offers the chance of direct qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, but Yulo said he’s not thinking too much on the Games.
“I’m trying not to think about the Olympics, but hoping that I can compete there,” said Yulo, who also won a bronze in the first event of the 2018-2020 World Cup series in Cottbus (GER).
Shatilov accumulated 14.633 points with a Difficulty score of 5.9 while Zapata, who finished third at the Melbourne leg last month, had 14.433 points.