Asian Games: Yulo brothers, Besana advance to gymnastics finals; MMA's Alvarez bags PH's 2nd bronze

Brothers Carlos and Karl Eldrew Yulo, and their teammate Juancho Miguel Besana advanced to different apparatus finals in the 2026 Asian Games, while MMA fighter Carlos Alvarez secured the country’s second bronze medal on Monday in Japan.

READ MORE | Philippines at the 2026 Asian Games: Medal Tally

Carlos topped the floor exercise qualifications, while Karl Eldrew finished fourth to advance to the said apparatus’ final. Besana made it to the top four in vault, while Carlos finished seventh to also book a spot in the medal round. Olympic gold medalist Carlos also clinched a finals spot in parallel bars.

MMA fighter Carlos Alvarez, meanwhile, officially secured the country’s second bronze medal after falling to Kazakhstan’s Yerkingali Burkutalin in the men’s traditional -77kg semifinals.

Jean Claude Saclag, meanwhile, is assured of at least a silver medal after defeating Daisuke Murayama in the men’s traditional -65kg semifinals.

In other sports, Olympian Kayla Sanchez broke the Philippine record twice as she clocked 28.24 seconds in the heats of the 50m backstroke, then 28.19 seconds in the finals, where she finished fifth.

Xiandi Chua also clocked 2:16.02, a new national record, in the 200m individual medley final, where she finished seventh.

The Gilas Pilipinas 3x3 Men, meanwhile, opened their campaign with wins against Mongolia, 19-12, and Sri Lanka, 21-12.

The duo of Khylem Progella and Sofiah Pagara, meanwhile, defeated Maldives, 21-6, 21-11, in women’s beach volleyball. On the men’s side, Ran Abdilla and Lerry John Francisco fell to Qatar, 21-7, 21-10, but compatriots James Butraygo and Ronniel Rosales won against Mongolia, 21-11, 21-15.

The quarterfinals-bound Filipinas, meanwhile, fell to China, 5-1, to finish third in their group in women’s football.

Alas Pilipinas Women, meanwhile, swept Mongolia to advance to the battle for 9th in the classification round.

On Wednesday, the quarterfinals-bound Gilas Pilipinas Women will take on Japan, while their 3x3 counterparts will also go against Mongolia and Macau.

The Philippine National Men’s U23 Football team, meanwhile, will face Kuwait in its final match.

—JKC, GMA News