The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) can now count decathlete Janry Ubas as another gold-medal contender in the Southeast Asian Games.
Ubas ruled the men’s long jump of the just-concluded Thailand Open Track and Field Championship with a 7.78-meter leap on Monday, less than a week after eclipsing the decade-old SEA Games record.
The UAAP Season 78 MVP from Far Eastern U jumped 7.88m during the final trials organized by Patafa at
Philsports, a shade better than Henry Dagmil’s 7.87m record set in the 2007 SEA Games in Thailand.
It also shadowed the 2015 SEAG gold-medal standard of Thailand’s Supanara Sukhasvasti (7.75m).
Patafa has projected at least five gold medals in the Kuala Lumpur biennial meet on Aug. 19-30 with Filipino-Americans Eric Cray (400m hurdles and 100m dash) and Kayla Richardson (women’s 100m dash) set to defend their titles.
Pole vaulter EJ Obiena is also expected to rule his event while hopes are high that triple jumper Harry Diones can also deliver.
Patrick Unso, meanwhile, registered a new national record in the men’s 110m hurdles during the Bangkok tournament held on the day the Philippines celebrated its independence.
Unso, son of Patafa secretary general Renato Unso, claimed the bronze medal in 13.91 seconds, shattering his own previous national mark of 14.12 seconds accomplished at the 2015 Singapore Games.
With his recent exploits, Ubas recently said he’s torn between competing in long jump and the 10-event decathlon where the Cagayan de Oro national team mainstay got a bronze in Singapore.
He’s expected to join the training camp of the national team at the Hong Kong Sports Institute beginning June 16 along with the other tracksters who are vying for medals in the 11-nation Games.