Shot putter books ticket to Vietnam

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NATIONAL athlete John Albert Mantua booked a ticket to the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games yesterday by topping the men’s shot put event with a personal best of 17.02 meters on his first try at the start of the Milo Performance and Team Trials at the Baguio Athletic Bowl in Baguio City.

The website Pinoyathletic.info reported that Mantua, 29, exceeded the bronze medal qualifying standard of 16.40 meters in the 2019 SEA Games and nearly equaled the silver-medal performance of 17.03 meters by Malaysia’s Muhammad Ziyad Zulkifli in the meet.

Fil-Am William Morrison III is the defending SEA Games shot put champion, ruling the 2019 event with a new national record of 18.38 meters in Capas, Tarlac.

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Former Philippine Sports Commission statistician Andrew Pirie, who owns the popular athletics website, noted that Mantua’s performance was a marked improvement on his throw of 16.06 meters when he topped the Philippine Ayala Athletics Championships in the same arena last December.

“Masayang-masaya po ako dahil hindi lang nag-improve and performance pero makaka-compete muli ako sa SEA Games,” said the Gen. City Santos pride after his remarkable performance.

A back-to-back NCAA men’s shot put and discus throw champion in 2012 and 2013, Mantua had a forgettable outing in his SEA Games debut in 2019 but is now poised to battle for a podium finish in the Vietnam edition in Hanoi in May.

Mantua attributed his success and improvement to the mentoring of national field coach Arniel Ferrera, a four-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist in the hammer throw, for his steady progress in his pet event.

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