MANILA, Philippines – The first step towards qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics is now in the books for Carlos Yulo.

Yulo claimed the men’s individual all-around silver in the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Singapore on Thursday, June 15, to secure his place in the World Championships in Belgium in September.

Japan completed the podium, with Shinnosuke Oka edging Yulo for the all-around gold with 86.065 points and Takeru Kitazono capturing the bronze with 85.431 points.

Needing just a top-eight ranking to punch his ticket to the worlds, which is the lone qualifying event for the Paris Games this year, Yulo duplicated his all-around silver in the last Asian championships.

The performance also earned the Filipino star spots in the apparatus finals in all but one of the six events in Singapore, finishing as the top qualifier in parallel bars, floor exercise, and vault to amass 85.93 points.

Yulo posted his best score in the parallel bars with a scintillating 15.066-point routine and tallied 14.966 and 14.866 points in the floor exercise and vault, respectively, to earn a shot at defending his throne in all three events.

The 23-year-old also won the parallel bars, floor exercise, and vault golds in the Asian championships in Qatar last year.

He lined himself up for a potential four-gold haul as he placed second in the rings qualification with 14.3 points and nailed another final berth in the horizontal bar.

Despite ranking ninth in the horizontal bar qualification with 13.466 points, Yulo still advanced to the medal round as the top eight gymnasts – with a maximum of two per federation – will qualify for the final.

China and Japan each had three gymnasts in the horizontal bar top eight, allowing Yulo to crack the final.

Yulo posted a respectable mark of 13.266 points in pommel horse for 16th place.

In the team event, Yulo and the Philippine men’s squad of Ivan Cruz, Juancho Miguel Besana, Justine Ace de Leon, and Jann Gwynn Timbang missed out on a spot in the world championships after finishing seventh overall.

The men’s crew totaled 237.193 points as China bagged the team all-around gold with 256.762 points followed by silver medalist Japan (256.694) and bronze medalist Kazakstan (246.828).

Besana, the only other Filipino besides Yulo to try all six apparatuses in the individual all-around, placed 28th with 73.531 points.

Yulo will return to action on Saturday, June 17, for the apparatus finals, a day after Aleah Finnegan and the Philippine women’s team take center stage on Friday. – Rappler.com