JOHN Albert Mantua emerged as one of the country’s solid gold prospects in the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games next month after ruling the men’s shot put with a personal best throw of 17.33 meters last Saturday in the 82nd Singapore Open Track and Field Championships at the Singapore National Stadium.
Mantua’s feat overshadowed Fil-Am teammate and 2019 30th SEA Games gold medalist William Morrison, who was relegated to second place in his first competition in a long time with a throw of 16.61 meters, way off his national mark of 18.38 meters set in his golden SEA Games debut three years ago.
Take out Morrison’s winning throw, the General Santos City man mountain’s present heave would still be more than enough for the gold in the 2019 Philippine edition of the meet, considering that Malaysian runner-up Muhammad Ziyad Zokefli took the silver with a throw of 17.03 meters.
Mantua’s coach Arniel Ferrera, who was with Mantua in Singapore, noted the athlete has shown remarkable improvement after setting a previous personal record of 17.02 meters at the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association Performance and Time Trials in Baguio City last February.
“This is an increase of 31 meters or just slightly more than one feet, which is a big deal in this sport,” Ferrera, a four-time SEA Games gold medalist in the men’s hammer throw, stressed, adding that Mantua “still has so much room to be even better in Vietnam.”
This would put Mantua in a collision course with Morrison for top honors in the event when the Vietnam SEA Games trackfest opens on May 14 at the My Dinh National Stadium in Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.
Athletics chief Phil Ella Juico was proud of the shot-putter’s accomplishment, saying: “This is what our local athletes can accomplish given the right support, proper training and motivation. This could be an exciting duel between John and Willie for gold in Hanoi.”
Morrison did not mind playing second fiddle to Mantua in the Singapore Open, posting on his Instagram account that “coming back to the sport has been a slow but rough battle, but smiling because I’m doing this for me and loving it.”
Also among the gold medal winners last Saturday for the Nationals in the stint supported by the Philippine Sports Commission were 2019 SEA Games gold medalist Melvin Calano and Evelyn Palabrica, who swept the men’s and women’s javelin event with throws of 45.81 and 66.23 meters, respectively.
Mark Harry Diones, a 2019 SEA Games silver medalist, won a closely-contested duel with teammate Ronne Malipay to clinch the gold medal in the men’s triple jump, clearing 15.69 meters to the latter’s 15.58 meters in the meet that drew athletes from the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Fil-Am Natalie Uy was the hands down winner in the women’s long jump yesterday, clearing 4.20 meters, five centimeters short of her SEA Games record of 4.25 meters in her maiden appearance in the meet held at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium in Capas, Tarlac three years ago.
