FILIPINO gymnasts Karl Eldrew Yulo and Ivan Cruz will compete at the World Cup Baku leg Milli Gimnastika Arensi in Azerbaijan, where the tournament will run from March 5-8.
The Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) announced the news on social media Sunday.
“The World Cup rush has begun,” GAP wrote.
“Our SEA Games Gold Medalist and Junior World Bronze medalist, now Senior gymnast, is up to face the MAG Team’s first world cup for 2026 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Wishing the best of luck to John Ivan Cruz and Karl Jahrel Eldrew Yulo as they compete against the world’s top individual apparatus gymnasts.”
Yulo, who turned 18 last January, will finally make his seniors debut in this World Cup leg.
The younger brother of 2-time Olympic champ Carlos last saw action at the FIG Junior World Championships held here in Manila last November.
Eldrew bagged a bronze medal each in floor exercise and horizontal bar to end his junior campaign.
“It means so much to me because this is my last year as a junior, and I got two bronzes,” said Eldrew after his double bronze finish.
“It’s a really big thing for me because I’m ending my junior level with history for the Philippines. I only realized now that I made history as the first Filipino gymnast to win a medal in the Junior Worlds. I’m now part of history.”
Meanwhile, Cruz last competed at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand where he bagged a gold medal in vault apparatus.
Cruz raised his personal SEA Games gold haul to two after winning the floor exercise competition at the 2023 edition in Cambodia.