MANILA – The Philippine men’s relay team captured gold in the 25th Vietnam International Athletics Championships in Vietnam ahead of their 2018 Asian Games stint.
Olympian Eric Cray, Anfernee Lopena, Christian Bautista, and Patrick Unso clocked 39.73 seconds to top the 4x100m relay on Friday.
The quartet edged the South Korean team by 0.09 of a second while host Vietnam took home the bronze.
The Filipino team’s performance was way behind the Philippine record of 39.11 seconds.
The squad is expected to have a better showing in the Asiad, with Southeast Asian Games sprint champion Trenten Beram taking over the spot of Unso.
Not included in Asiad roster, Unso made a statement by capturing his second gold in the Vietnam athletic games in men’s 100m hurdles with 14.18 seconds.
The Philippine record holder defeated Xaysa Anousone of Laos by 0.02 of a second as Hong Kong’s Feung Cheung settled for bronze with 14.24 seconds.
Meanwhile the Philippines’ Marco Vilog settled for bronze in marathon. Capturing gold was Vietnam’s Duong Van Thai while Sri Lanka’s Chaturangga Gallage won silver.
Other Asian Games-bound athletes faltered in their respective events – Janry Ubas finished fifth in men’s long jump, Lopena got disqualified in 100m dash and Kristina Knott landing on fifth in 100m dash./PN
