Emma Malabuyo

The Asian Championships concluded with the women’s competition in Tashkent over the weekend, where Emma Malabuyo of the Philippines earned the continental berth for the Olympic Games, joining Abdulla Azimov of Uzbekistan, who earned the men’s spot a week earlier.

Malabuyo, a current UCLA standout and former U.S. elite who served as a reserve athlete for Tokyo 2020, competed bars for the first time in nearly three years in order to have a complete all-around program here, with her hard work paying off as she managed a 50.398 total score to wind up with the bronze medal in addition to securing the Olympic spot. Malabuyo is the third WAG athlete from the Philippines to earn an Olympic spot after fellow former U.S. elites Aleah Finnegan and Levi Jung-Ruivivar qualified via world championships and the world cup series, respectively.

Also finishing on the all-around podium in the women’s competition were Hu Jiafei and first-year senior Qin Xinyi of China, with Hu taking the title with a 50.699 while Qin followed with a 50.566. Just off the podium was Aida Bauyrzhanova of Kazakhstan, who earned a 50.365, devastatingly just a fraction of a tenth away from a medal and Paris.

The young Chinese team also won the team gold medal with a 154.598, ahead of North Korea with a 152.029 for silver and Uzbekistan with a 147.162 for bronze. The North Koreans were incredibly successful in the apparatus finals, with Kim Son Hyang winning the silver medal on vault and the bronze on beam, Jon Jang Mi winning silver on uneven bars, and Jo Kyong Byol winning bronze on vault. Dipa Karmakar of India won the vault title; on bars, Yang Fanyuwei took the title and Jung-Ruivivar won bronze; Qin and Chen Xinyi were the gold and silver medalists on beam; and on floor, Malabuyo won gold ahead of Chen in second and Bauyrzhanova in third.

Abdulla Azimov with his pommel horse silver medal

A week prior to the women’s competition, Azimov secured the MAG spot, also along with a bronze medal in the all-around behind the already qualified Carlos Yulo of the Philippines with gold and Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan with silver. Azimov also helped his team win the silver medal less than two points behind China, a massive success in front of a home crowd, while the South Korean team won the bronze medal.

Yulo was also pretty dominant in the apparatus finals, winning gold medals on floor, vault, and parallel bars while also placing fourth on high bar and sixth on rings. Karimi won the high bar title and the silver medal on floor, his teammate Nariman Kurbanov won the pommels title, and Yin Dehang of China won gold on rings.

Both WAG and MAG championships included junior sessions. In the WAG competition, Muneta Rinon of Japan won the all-around, vault, and bars titles, while Hwang Seohyun of South Korea won beam, Okura Yuri of Japan won floor, and China took the team gold medal. In the MAG competition, Hong Yanming of China won the all-around and pommel horse titles while leading the team to the gold medal, and the other apparatus titles went to Takahashi Ryokei of Japan and Roman Khegay of Kazakhstan on floor, Abolfazl Nikkhoualamshiri of Iran on rings, Karl Eldrew Yulo of the Philippines on vault, Yang Lanbin of China on parallel bars, and Yasui Eijun of Japan on high bar.

Links: Senior WAG Results, Senior MAG Results, Junior WAG Results, Junior MAG Results, WAG Olympic Qualifiers, MAG Olympic Qualifiers

Article by Lauren Hopkins