White, Ajido deliver medals for Pinoy tankers

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CAPAS, Tarlac. – The Philippines finally breached the medal tally in the 11th Asian Age Group Championships through Heather White and Jamesray Mishael Ajido, who placed third in their respective events on Tuesday night at the New Clark City Aquatics Center here.

White, a 16-year-old Filipino-British currently living in Vietnam, registered a personal best time of 1:03.09 in the girls 15-17 100m butterfly event.

Hong Kong’s Hoi Ching Yeung captured the gold medal in 1:00.50, smashing Japanese Aki Obata’s 1:00.73 record set in 2009, while teammate Sze Ki Mok won the silver medal in 1:02.73.

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“I am so happy. Before the race I wasn’t expecting much. I was still recovering from the 50m freestyle so to have that big win after my loss, it was so amazing,” said White, who clocked 26.68 to finish fifth in the 50m freestyle behind Kazakhstan’s Sofiya Abubakirova (26.25), Chinese Taipei’s Pei Hsuan Li (26.28), Japan’s Rimika Taira (26.31) and Hong Kong’s Gilaine Ma (26.54).

Ajido of Antipolo City splashed his way to the bronze medal in the boys 12-14 50m freestyle with a time of 24.34, a personal best and a national record.

Japan’s Toya Hirata captured the gold medal in 23.21, a new meet record that broke the 24.03 time set by compatriot Yuga Takashima in 2019.

“This is special for me. I am proud to win a medal for the Philippines,” said Ajido, a Grade 8 student at La Salle Greenhills who won the 100m butterfly and 100m backstroke gold medals in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 99.

“I dedicate this victory to the Lord and my family,” added the 15-year-old, who pocketed five gold and one bronze medals in the Batang Pinoy National Championships last December.

Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richard Bachmann commended White and Ajido during a visit on Wednesday.

“Congratulations to the athletes and to everyone involved in making this happen,” said Bachmann, who was welcomed by David Carter, the local organizing committee chief operating officer.

As of Tuesday, Japan leads the medal tally board with 20 golds, 11 silvers and 4 bronzes.
Kazkhstan is second with 10 golds, 7 silvers and 2 bronzes followed by Thailand (9-7-12), Hong Kong (9-7-8), Vietnam (8-10-11), Chinese Taipei (3-11-6), India (2-4-2), Macau (2-1-1), Iran (1-2-4), Kyrgyzstan (1-0-0), Uzbekistan (0-2-2), China (0-1-1), Malaysia (0-0-4), Qatar (0-0-3) and Mongolia (0-0-2).

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