FILE–Clinton Kingsley Bautista wins 110m hurdles anew. INQUIRER FILE
MANILA, Philippines — Clinton Kingsley Bautista successfully defended his crown in the men’s 110-meter hurdles in the 31st Southeast Asian Games on Monday at My Dinh Stadium in Vietnam.
The former UAAP MVP out of Far Eastern University was the fastest man among the eight competitors.
Bautista completed a back-to-back gold medal runs in the biennial meet as he also ruled the 2019 SEA Games in Capas, Tarlac.
It was the third gold of the Philippine Athletics and Track and Field Association with Bautista joining winners EJ Obiena (pole vault) and William Morrison (shot put).
The hurdler from Tarlac tallied a new national record, finishing the race in 13.78 seconds.
He beat runner-up Chen Xiang Ang of Singapore, who clocked 13.94 seconds, and third placer Natthaphon Dansungnoen of Thailand (13.99).
Bautista broke his previous 2019 SEA Games record 13.97 seconds.
Filipino Alvin John Vergel was also part of the contest but he missed the podium, finishing sixth with a time of 14.73 seconds.
Meanwhile, Alyana Joyce Nicolas got the bronze in women’s pole vault and Jelly Dianne Paragile finished third in women’s 100m hurdles.
Nicolas tallied 3.60 for the third place in pole vaulting joining gold medalist Nor Sarah Adi Binti of Malaysia (4.00) and Chonthicha Khabut (3.80) in the podium.
However, Natalie Uy failed to defend her title after complaining of numbness in both legs.
Paragile also nabbed the bronze after clocking 13.720 in the hurdles, just 0.030 ticks behind silver medalist Emilia Nova of Indonesia. Fellow Filipino Melissa Escoton placed fourth (13.860).
Katherine Khay Santos leaped 6.00m in the women’s long jump, 0.39m far from the podium, as her teammate Marestella Sunang landed at sixth place (5.92m).
Said Guermali finished fifth in the men’s 800m, clocking 1:58.020, while Junel Gobotia placed fourth in men’s 3000m steeple chase, 10 seconds behind bronze medalist Atjong Purwanto Tio (9:10.990).
The national team also missed the podium in the men’s and women’s 4 x 100 relay.