FILIPINO pocket-sized wonder Carlos Edriel Yulo has set himself lofty goals as he braces for the 41st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships slated Oct. 29 to Nov. 6 in Liverpool, England.
“My goal is to finish in the top six in the individual all-around and hopefully three gold medals in the events I won in the World Championships,” said Mr. Yulo, who left his training camp in Paris, France and flew to Liverpool yesterday, during Monday night’s online presser set up by the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines.
The apparatuses Mr. Yulo was referring to were floor exercise and vault where he struck gold in Stuttgart, Germany three years ago and vault in Kitakyushu, Japan last year and parallel bars where swooped down on a silver also in Kitakyushu.
Mr. Yulo vowed to especially focus in redeeming himself from his forgettable fifth-place performance in his pet floor exercise in Kitakyushu where he made one glaring mistake after he fell and stumbled out of the mat that cost him a medal.
“We made upgrades in floor and vault and we will try new elements,” said the quintuple Southeast Asian Games gold winner.
Mr. Yulo said he is already fully healed after injuring two fingers in his right hand two months ago and will come into full strength in the Liverpool tilt where he is expected to face world and Olympic champions including world individual all-around titlist Zhang Boheng of China.
“I don’t fear it (re-injuring his fingers). But it will be decided in how well I fare during practices,” he said.
Mr. Yulo’s coach, Japanese Munehiro Kugimiya agrees.
“He’s very good now and he has no more problems with his fingers,” said Mr. Kugimiya of Mr. Yulo. “In Liverpool, he will try the highest element in vault and will target 85 points in all-around.
“If he can do that, he can get in the top six or eight in the all-around,” he added. — Joey Villar
