Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 13) – 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalists Carlos Yulo and Daniela Dela Pisa will banner the 28-strong Philippine gymnastics team in the regional sports event’s next edition in Hanoi, Vietnam in May.
The Hanoi-bound Philippine gymnastics team lineup was shared to CNN Philippines by Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion.
Yulo – a two-time world gymnastics champion – head the 12 artistic gymnasts who will vie for a medal in the biennial sports competition.
The 22-year-old Yulo harvested two golds and five silvers in the 2019 SEA Games held at home soil, two months after winning the world all-around title in the world gymnastics tilt.
Since his SEA Games medal harvest, Yulo became a rising star in the world gymnastics scene highlighted by his Olympic debut in Tokyo and his conquest of the vault world title last year. He also snagged a silver medal in the parallel bars event in the 2021 world artistic gymnastics championship.
Jan Gwynn Timbang, Justine Ace De Leon, Juancho Miguel Besana, John Ivan Cruz, and John Matthew Vergara will join Yulo in the men’s artistic gymnastics squad.
Meanwhile, Louisiana State University standout Aleah Finnegan will make her Philippine team debut in the Vietnam SEA Games as she leads the female artistic gymnastics squad.
The 19-year-old Finnegan was part of the United States women’s gymnastics team, where she clinched a gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games.
Finnegan will be joined by veteran gymnast Christina Onofre-Loberanes, former Palarong Pambansa champion Charlie Manzano, Lucia Gutierrez, Kursten Lopez, and Chiara Andrews in the women’s artistic gymnastics lineup.
Meanwhile, Dela Pisa will lead the nine-strong Philippine rhythmic gymnastics team who will target to bring home medals in Hanoi.
The Cebuana gymnastics sensation won the gold in the hoop event and two bronzes in the ball and clubs disciplines in 2019.
2019 SEA Games bronze medalists Katrina Loretizo, Andrea Mae Emperado, AJ Melgar, and Divina Sembrano will return to their national team duties as they seek to equal or improve from their previous performance. The four won their medal in the group all-around event.
The other Filipino rhythmic gymnasts competing in Vietnam are bemedaled gymnastics wunderkind Breanna Labadan, Shieldannah Sabio, Jenny Marie Eusebio, and Angelika Leigh Buenavidez.
The seven aerobic gymnasts complete the 28-strong Philippine gymnastics in the Hanoi SEA Games – comprising of Charmaine Dolar, Lynette Ann Moreno, Queenie Grace Briones, Dorothy Grace Asuncion, Christopher Daniel Quevedo, Carl Joshua Tangonan, and Enrico Ostia.
The 31st SEA Games artistic gymnastics competition will be held from May 13-16, while the rhythmic gymnastics tournament is scheduled from May 18-19. The aerobic gymnastics event is slated from May 21-22. All the gymnastics competitions will take place at the Quan Ngua Sports Palace in Hanoi.
