INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines ? An elite international field bannered by world No. 1 Sergey Yakolev of Russia fight it out for the crown in the 2009 Subic Bay ASTC Asian Duathlon Championships on Nov. 15 at the Subic Bay Freeport.

Yakolev, ranked as the top duathlete by the International Triathlon Union, leads the crack men?s cast that also includes world No. 2 Damien Derobert of France, No. 4 Raphael Baugh of Austra-lia and No. 10 Yuya Fukaura of Japan.

Japan?s Aira Sawada, who ruled the 2009 Mekong River ITU Duathlon World Series last March, is the favorite in the elite female class of the grueling 10K run-40K bike-5K run event.

Also tabbed as favorites are Sawada?s compatriot Erika Inoue and Malaysians Sharom Abdullah and Krishna Kumar.

Neil Catiil and Monica Torres, the defending male and female champions in the Philippine International Duathlon Open, head the RP contingent.

Other top local bets include former national champion George Vilog and veterans August Benedicto, Robeno Javier, Lea Coline Langit, Mirasol Abad, Kim Mangrobang and Carlo Pedregosa.

Racers from China, Mongolia, Iran, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong China, Singapore and Indonesia have also signed up for the event organized by the Triathlon Association of the Philippines in cooperation with with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and the Philippine Sports Commission.