PATAFA to send athletes to Hong Kong, Ubas surpasses SEAG record

MANILA, Philippines – The athletes who are included in the pool to compete in the 29th Southeast Asian Games at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from August 19 to 30 will be going through their last phase of intensive training this month.

The bulk of athletes in all 46 SEA Games events are scheduled to fly to the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) for their 6-week training on June 16.

HKSI training is fully supported by the Philippines Sports Commission with the help of the Ayala Corporation, UCPBGen and Cherrylume Corrugated Sheets.

Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) headed by President Philip Juico confirms the athletes are already at their best state with trainings done every day starting at 6 o’clock in the morning except for Thursdays.

“The foundation is already there,” said American coach Roshan Griffin who has been part of the coaching staff of team Philippines for two months now. “They just need refinement since the foundation has already been laid. We’re going for quality and not quantity (in terms of practice days).”

Griffin is an all-around athletics expect but his expertise is sprint and hurdles. He has also coach several national teams including China.

With less than 3 months to go before SEAG, Janry Ubas showcased a sneak peak of his could-be performance in the biennial multi-sport event when he surpassed the 10-year old SEA Games record in the long jump event.

During the PATAFA time trials on Saturday, June 3, the decathlete Ubas garnered a 7.88m leap in his first attempt, surpassing the old record of 7.87m.

“It was my first time to jump that far. I need more exposure so I could assure that in the SEA Games,” said the Cagayan de Oro native Ubas.

In the 2015 SEA Games, Ubas brought home a bronze medal. This year, however, the 3-time national athlete will have to choose between decathlon and long jump as his event.

“I’m still not sure what event will I be in,” said Ubas whose previous long jump record is 7.55m.

Ubas will be competing in Thailand for a pre-SEAG tournament which will test his skills in both events.

Meanwhile, PATAFA’s time trials proved the Philippines to be competitive in the upcoming tourney as javelin throwers Melvin Calano and Kenny Gonzales overcame the SEAG bronze standard of 56.84m with an outstanding 62.82m and 62.35m, respectively. – Rappler.com