Top Chinese triathletes head Subic Asian field

OLYMPIAN Bai Faquan leads a powerhouse Chinese contingent vying for the Elite crown in the K-Swiss Subic Bay ASTC Asian Triathlon Championships 2013 on April 27 to 29 at Subic Bay Freeport.

Bai, who raced in the 2012 London Olympics, stands as favorite in the men’s Elite field that includes Filipino and national record-holder Nikko Huelgas and former ITU world champion Dimitriy Gaag of Kazakhstan.

Asia’s top three female triathletes also crowd a tough women’s Elite competition headed by No. 1 Zhang Yi of China.

Joining Huelgas in the Philippines’ campaign are John Chicano, Kim Mangrobang, Mary Pauline Fornea, Kevin Eijansantos and Allen Santiago. Six other Filipinos hope to boost their bids for a Youth Olympic Games (YOG) berth.

Competing in the 15-16 junior sprint competitions are Magali Echauz, Vicky Deldio, Kate Lagman, Jimuel Patillan, Justin Chiongbian and Louie Lalanto, who are all hoping to represent the Philippines in the YOG next year.

Over 300 racers from 27 Asian countries are expected to see action in the race that also features age-group competitions and team relays.

Other top Elite male racers are Japan’s Yuichi Hosoda, Ryosuke Yamamoto and Harunobu Sato, Korea’s Kim Ji-hwan, China’s Jiang Zhihang and Uzbekistan’s Shohruh Yunusov.

Asia’s No. 2 Zhong Mengying and No. 3 Xin Lingxi, both from China, are also among the female favorites along with Japan’s Tomoko Sakimoto, Yuko Takahashi, Hideko Kikuchi and Kiyomi Niwata, South Korea’s Jang Yun-jung and Kazakhstan’s Yekaterina Shatnaya.

For inquiries, call the Triathlon Association of the Philippines at (02) 3996598, (02) 710-8259, 0916-5046513 or 0915-6394233. Jasmine W. Payo