Yulos, Gilas belles combine For gold-silver-bronze haul
NAGOYA — To the sound of Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like a Wolf” inside the Rainbow Hall of the Nagoya General Gymnasium, Carlos Yulo performed like one.
Yulo devoured the vault final and savored a historic Asian Games moment as a double-gold winner – just as he did in his Olympic breakthrough in Paris in 2024.
And Team Philippines proved to be a pack of wolves on this momentous day – their finest hours in the Games with a harvest of one gold, one silver and one bronze.
Carlos’ younger brother Karl Eldrew announced his arrival in the men’s gymnastics championships with a bronze in the horizontal bar, about an hour after Gilas Pilipinas Women 3x3 also soared to glory with a milestone silver finish.
And as the lights dimmed on the sixth day of full action, Team Philippines jumped to No. 14 in the medal race with a 2-2-5 gold-silver-bronze tally. China is an unstoppable force with 96-36-24 as of 7 p.m. last night, followed by Japan with 26-41-44.
Less than 24 hours after winning his first-ever Asiad gold in floor exercise, Yulo became the latest Filipino athlete to win more than one gold in a single Asian Games, joining golfer Yuka Saso (2018 Jakarta), bowler Bong Coo (1974 Bangkok), sprinter Mona Sulaiman (1962 Jakarta), tennis star Raymundo Deyro (1958 Tokyo) and swimmer Haydee Coloso-Espino (1954 Manila).
“Actually, nag-e-enjoy na ako kanina, hindi stressed, fluid in my performance. Muntik magkamali sa dismount but I was able to save it,” said Yulo.
“I’m grateful to the Lord, yung blessing from Him sunod-sunod dumadating. Sobrang saya ko sa performance ko, kahit ako ‘di makapaniwala,” he added.
Vault redemption in full attack
Picking himself up from a bad landing in vault during the all-around team competition, Yulo raised his left hand, bowed to the crowd, then twice took the runway with absolute confidence.
For his Nagoya coup de grace, he didn’t just vault, he attacked, winning with an average of 14.599 – 14.733 on Vault 1 (5.6 difficulty + 9.133 execution) and 14.466 on Vault 2 (5.2 difficulty + 9.266 execution).
He opened with pure power, a high-difficulty monster – the handspring double front pike with half-turn that was his Olympic-winning vault – that shot off the table with massive height. Then he came back smarter, dialing down to a 5.2 vault built for perfection, chasing that stuck landing.
Then came tense moments waiting out three rivals.
Iran’s Mahdi Olfati was the lone bet to breach the 15.000 mark with a competition-high 15.100 on his first vault, keeping the Filipino gallery on edge. But he lost it on the landing in his second for 13.966, finishing with 14.533 for silver. Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Ki took bronze with 14.116.
Then came the last man – Malaysia’s Sharul Aimy Muhammad – with a chance to unseat Yulo. He managed only 13.533 on his first, 13.466 on his second for a 13.499 average – and the Philippine gallery was already on its feet.
It’s not just King Carlos
Another Pinoy vault bet, SEA Games gold medalist Juancho Miguel Besana, delivered 13.783 for fifth in his Asiad debut.
The younger Yulo struck with a podium finish in gymnastics’ final event with a 13.666 result, next to China’s Tian Hao (14.700) and Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka (14.033).
But it was King Carlos who was the hungry wolf conquering Nagoya, narrowly missing a third medal as he finished fourth in parallel bars later in the day.
With a complete set of golden achievements, Yulo said he’ll stay hungry and continue to work hard in a bid to deliver more for the country. Next up is the 54th Artistic Gymnastics World Championship in Rotterdam from Oct. 17-25.
It’s a nice welcome for fellow Philippine star Alex Eala, who flies in today from Singapore, taking a first-round bye as the top seed in women’s singles. She plays her first match on Sunday or Monday.
Gilas 3x3 women make history
The day belonged to gymnastics, but Gilas Women 3x3 made it historic.
Kacey dela Rosa, Kennan Ka, Amyah Espanol and Maria Pasilang yielded to host Japan, 11-21, in the gold-medal duel, but still delivered the Philippines’ first-ever Asian Games medal in women’s 3x3 – a silver.
The men’s squad of coach Patrick Fran missed a twin podium as the squad of Nic Cabañero, David Dungo, Manuel Pablo and Koji Buenaflor fell to South Korea, 9-21, in the semis, then lost the battle for third to Iran, 10-21.
Still, it’s some consolation after the men’s 5x5 lost the crown they won in Hangzhou.
Around Nagoya
There were winning moments atop the square ring, in the diamond, then heartbreaks elsewhere.
From a lousy Round 1 win, boxer Junmilardo Ogayre came back hungry, angry and precise at Nishio Gymnasium, picking apart Nepal’s Magar Roka, 5-0, to punch his ticket to the quarterfinals.
The Philippine baseball team ended a string of shattering losses and blasted Thailand, 18-7.
In women’s 54kg boxing, Riza Pasuit yielded a unanimous decision to Thailand’s Natnicha Chongprongklang, leaving the Philippines down to three fighters.
In skateboarding at Aichi Sky Expo Hall B, Jericho Francisco ran third for most of the way but ended up fourth in men’s park. In the women’s side, 12-year-old Mazel Paris finished sixth.
Weightlifter Elreen Ann Ando lifted a total of 224kgs for fifth in women’s 61kg behind lifters from China (251kg), North Korea (248kg), Chinese Taipei (237kg) and Thailand (225kg).