Russia’s Arsenii Dukhno set the pace in the floor exercise qualifications at the World Cup Cairo on Friday, posting 14.533 points to lead the field — but it was Eldrew Yulo who secured the result that mattered most for the Philippines, booking a spot in the event final.
The 18-year-old Yulo recorded 13.900 points, built on a difficulty score of 5.400 and an execution mark of 8.500, to claim fifth place among 30 competitors. It is the third consecutive time Yulo has reached a senior-level floor exercise final, a streak that began shortly after his gold medal performance in Antalya last month.
Dukhno, who won both the all-around and vault titles at the 2025 Junior World Championships, is no stranger to Yulo. The two competed against each other when Manila hosted that same junior competition in November 2025. Behind Dukhno in Cairo, Colombia’s Camilo Vera finished second at 14.133 points, with Russia’s Daniel Marinov third at 14.000.
John Ivan Cruz, who claimed gold at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games, did not advance from qualifications, finishing 21st with 12.200 points.
Elsewhere in Friday’s action, Miguel Besana struggled in the pommel horse, scoring 10.666 points to rank 23rd out of 27 athletes. Armenia’s Mamikon Khachatryan led that event with 14.766, ahead of Kazakhstan’s Zeinolla Idrissov and Nariman Kurbanov, who both scored 14.566. Besana, a 2023 SEA Games gold medalist on the apparatus, did not advance to the final.
In still rings, Justine Ace De Leon finished 13th out of 14 competitors with 11.733 points. Armenia’s Artur Avetisyan topped the standings at 14.233, followed by Greek veteran Eleftherios Petrounias at 14.100 and China’s Liu Yang at 14.000. De Leon, a bronze medalist at the 2025 SEA Games, did not qualify for the final.
Qualifications continue Saturday, when Yulo is scheduled to compete across all three remaining apparatus — vault, parallel bars, and horizontal bar. Cruz will appear in the vault, while Besana is entered in the horizontal bar and parallel bars.
