MANILA – Ernest John Uy Obiena delivered the country’s first gold medal in the 19th Asian Games. He stamped his class in the men’s pole vault event on Saturday night at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre in Hangzhou, China.
The former University of Santo Tomas standout successfully cleared 5.75 meters in his second attempt to take home the gold and broke a 30-year Asiad medal drought for Philippine athletics.
Obiena, the first Filipino athlete to earn a qualification to the 2024 Paris Olympics, skipped the previous rounds before making his first jump in the 5.55 meters, which he cleared in one try.
The 6-foot-3 Obiena skipped the 5.65 meters before making a jump in the 5.75 meters, where he was unsuccessful on his first try before securing the gold medal on his second attempt.
With the gold medal already in the bag, Obiena attempted to reset his personal best record of 6.00 meters as he tried to overcome the 6.02 meters mark but he was unsuccessful on three attempts.
Finishing with silver medal in the competition is hometown bet Huang Bokai, while Saudi Arabia’s Hussain Al-Hizam settled for bronze medal as both competitors failed to clear the 5.75 mark.
Meanwhile, Filipino fighter Carlo Paalam joined Eumir Marcial in the boxing competition quarterfinals after beating Uulu Munarbek Seiitbek of Kyrgyzstan in a back-and-forth fight at the Hangzhou gymnasium on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Paalam, winner of a silver medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, needed a strong finishing kick to pull off the hard-earned 4-1 win in the Round-of-16 of the men’s 54 kg class.
“Matalino ring maglaro. Ginagamit yung tangkad at experience niya,” the Filipino said of Seiitbek, a bronze medal winner in this year’s World Championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. “Dun kami nagbe-base sa skill at sa style. Matalino talaga.”
Paalam became only the second Filipino fighter after Marcial to reach the quarterfinals as the two try to carry the country’s hopes of earning a first ever Asiad gold in 13 years and earn an outright passage to the Paris Olympics next year./PN
