SETTING his ambitions high, national men’s artistic gymnastics coach Reyland Capellan wants his charges to aim for a fifth-place finish in the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships next month in Singapore, a feat that that will enable Pinoy gymnasts to qualify for the World Gymnastics meet in Antwerp, Belgium in September.
“Gusto naming maka-fifth place para makapaglaro ang men’s gymnastics team sa Belgium,” Capellan, who is in Tokyo, Japan together with gymnast Juancho Miguel Besana, said in an online press conference yesterday.
Joining Capellan, who called the shots for the gymnasts who won four gold and two silver medals in the 32nd Cambodia Southeast Asian Games, and Besana in the briefing were former world champion Carlos Yulo and Manila-based gymnasts John Ivan Cruz and Justine Ace de Leon.
Also present was Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion, who praised the gymnasts for their sterling outing in the Cambodia Games.
Besana and Cruz, who bagged gold medals in the vault and floor exercise in Cambodia, said they are training very hard for the Asian meet to join Yulo in the world meet.
Now under the tutelage of Japanese head coach Munehiro Kugimiya while working out in the Japanese capital, Besana said he could see an improvement in his form since they began training over a week ago.
Yulo, the country’s top medalist in Cambodia with a pair of golds and silvers, said that while the goal was difficult “it is still possible because Japan and China have already qualified for the World Championships and might not send strong teams there.”
The pint-sized gymnastics ace said that he is gunning for the top spot in the men’s individual all-around in the Asian meet set June 10-18 at the OCBC Arena in Singapore after taking runner-up honors in the Doha edition last year.
“Gusto ko rin pong manalo muli ng golds sa parallel bars, floor exercise and vault,” he said, referring to the mints he garnered in the Asian meet in the Qatari capital in 2023.
Carrion confirmed that Filipino-American gymnast Alea Finnegan, a double gold medalist in the Vietnam SEA Games, will also be seeking a ticket to the World Championships through the Asian competition.
“We also intend to field a field a women’s artistic gymnastics team that will also have two more Fil-Ams,” she said, although she declined to name the new national women’s artistic gymnasts in the meantime.
