WITH World Athletics ranking points at stake, overseas-based national athletes and elite campaigners from all over Asia and beyond are expected to see action in the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships from May 8 to 12 at the Philsports track oval in Pasig City.
“This meet is regarded as a category B competition by World Athletics so we expect a lot of our overseas athletes and those from other countries to take part in the Philippine Athletics Championships,” athletics secretary general Jasper Tanhueco said yesterday during the Philippine Sportswriters Association forum at the PSC conference room of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
Registration for the championships has been extended to April 30.
Joining Tanhueco in the public sports program backed by San Miguel Corporation, PSC, Philippine Olympic Committee, PLDT/Smart, Milo, and ArenaPlus, the leading sports entertainment gateway in the Philippines, were Philippine Racing Commission chairman Reli de Leon, special assistant to athletics chief Terry Capistrano; and national coach Geoffrey Chua.
Formerly known as the Philippine National Open, the competition returns to Metro Manila after being staged in Ilagan, Isabela for the past years.
“So far, we have nine countries that have registered for the competition,” said Tanhueco, adding they expect close to 700 athletes to see action.
Among the countries fielding entries are Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States.
Chua said that Filipino-Spanish trackster John Cabang, six-time men’s 400-meter hurdles champion Eric Cray, sprinter Kristina Knott, Lauren Hoffman and other Fil-Am campaigners are also scheduled to see action in the meet.
They are seeking tickets to Paris by meeting the Olympic standard or making the top 40 rankings.
Tanhueco said that also worth watching are the local athletics talents led by long jumper Leonard Grospe, long jumper and Cambodia Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Janry Ubas and two-time SEA Games men’s 110-meter hurdles champion Clinton Bautista.
