MANILA, Philippines – Carlos Yulo eased concerns over his form with a pair of medals in the Doha, Qatar leg of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series.

Yulo wrapped up his campaign in style as he struck gold in parallel bars and nailed silver in vault on Saturday, April 20 – results that augur well for his progress as he continues to gear up for the upcoming Paris Olympics.

Finishing second in the parallel bars qualification, Yulo saved the best for last and ruled the final with 15.2 points, edging Chinese Taipei’s Hung Yuan-Hsi (14.966) for the top prize.

Brazil’s Caio Souza bagged bronze with 14.566 points.

Top qualifier Rasuljon Abdurakhimov of Uzbekistan settled for fifth with 13.933 points as he failed to land his dismount.

Meanwhile, the vault final ended up the same way as the qualification – with Armenia’s Artur Davtyan edging Yulo for the top spot.

Davtyan, who recorded 15.116 points in the qualification, performed slightly better in the final with an average of 15.166 points to outshine Yulo.

Yulo also eclipsed his score of 14.633 points in the qualification with 15.066 in the final, but Davtyan – the Tokyo Games bronze medalist in vault – still emerged victorious.

Individual neutral athlete Yahor Sharamkou of Belarus clinched bronze with 14.749 points.

The gold and silver medals were exactly what Yulo needed to allay concerns over his feared decline after his separation from longtime Japanese coach Munehiro Kugimiya got followed by a string of unfavorable results.

Yulo went home empty-handed from the World Artistic Gymnastics Championship in Antwerp, Belgium, in October, marking the first time he failed to win a medal after winning at least one in each of the last four editions.

He then missed the finals of vault and parallel bars in the Baku, Azerbaijan leg in March, and although he won bronze in floor exercise there, he surprisingly finished 21st out of 28 gymnasts in the same apparatus in Doha.

But Yulo quickly redeemed himself as he raised his World Cup tally to 15 medals – five golds, four silvers, and six bronzes.

The Philippines won a total of three medals in Doha, with Levi Jung-Ruivivar taking home silver in the uneven bars for her first podium finish in a World Cup.

Jung-Ruivivar also qualified for the Paris Games, where she will join Yulo and Aleah Finnegan. – Rappler.com