ILAGAN. – Back-to-back Southeast Asian Games men’s 110-meter hurdles king Clinton Kingsley Bautista takes on a potential challenger in compatriot John Cabang, highlighting the start of the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships at the Ilagan Sports Complex here Wednesday.
Recently coming off military training, Bautista, who holds the national record of 13.78 seconds set when he retained the title in last year’s Vietnam Southeast Asian Games, will be tested by Filipino-Spanish Cabang, who has a personal best of 13.88 seconds.
They are competing in separate heats in the morning and are expected to slug it out in the finals at 4 p.m. in the four-day event organized by the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.
Also expected to attract attention is the women’s 110-meter clash between debuting Fil-Am Lauren Hoffman, who has a personal best of 13.98 seconds, and Vietnam’s Nguyen Bui Thui, who ruled the event in the Vietnam SEA Games with a time of 13.51 seconds.
Another Fil-Am in Umajesty Williams will also be the man to watch in the 400-meter run where he has a personal best of 45.76 seconds, better than the gold-medal time of 46.44 seconds set by Thai-American Joshua Atkinson in last year’s Vietnam Games.
Williams’ main rival could turn out to be Iraqi Yasir Al-Saadi, who was likely lured by the World Athletics ranking points at stake in the championships and boasts a personal best of 46.33 seconds.
Poised to given them stiff opposition is national team veteran Edgardo Alejan, who has a personal best of 46.89 seconds, in the tournament formally opened Tuesday afternoon by PSC Chairman Richard Bachmann, Patafa president Terry Capistrano and Ilagan City Mayor Josemarie Diaz.
Kicking off hostilities in the morning is the women’s discus throw finals where SEA Games silver medalist and former heptathlete Narcisa Atienza of Army is expected to romp off with the medal.
