Eldrew Yulo finished in eighth place with an impressive total of 78.731 points in the individual all-around — the first of the four finals he qualified for — at the ongoing 3rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships, Saturday at the Marriott Grand Ballroom in Pasay City.
The 17-year-old briefly took the lead after scoring 13.000 on the pommel horse, a remarkable 1.667-point jump from his qualifying score, maintaining a strong position heading into the final apparatus.
With a solid 12.066 finish on the still rings, Yulo concluded his last-ever Juniors all-around competition five places higher than his qualifying rank.
Yulo got off to a strong start, performing on four apparatuses that have long been his strengths. He began with the vault, where a minor landing mishap on his dismount resulted in a 0.3-point deduction, yet he still scored 13.466 — securing second place in his group.
He then scored 12.833 on the parallel bars, sticking his landing compared to the qualifiers, and followed it with a solid 13.066 on the horizontal bar. Yulo, who had qualified second for the floor final, boosted his total with his best score of the afternoon: 14.300, slightly higher than his 14.233 qualifying mark.
Arsenii Dukhno claimed the World Junior all-around title with 82.031 points, edging Japan’s Ojima Nao by 0.232 points (81.799), while China’s Yang Lanbin completed the podium with 81.099.
Yulo will now aim for gold in Sunday’s floor exercise final before concluding his campaign with the medal rounds on the vault and horizontal bar.
