ASIAN GAMES: Ubas advances to long jump final

MANILA – Veteran Janry Ubas made it to the men's long jump final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sunday.

The 2023 Cambodia Southeast Asian Games gold medalist cleared 7.59 meters on his second attempt at Mizuho Park Stadium, placing him eighth overall in a field of 12 finalists.

Uzbekistan's Anvar Anvarov led the qualifiers with 8.00 meters.

"Sobrang happy kasi na-hit agad ang qualifying standard. Sobrang lakas talaga, parang final na. 'Yung iba na magagaling, nahirapan din (I’m so happy because I hit the qualifying standard right away.

The competition is really strong, it already felt like the finals. Even some of the top athletes struggled,"the 32-year-old Ubas, a native of Misamis Oriental, said.

At the 2023 Hangzhou Games, Ubad was third in the qualification round, but ultimately finished seventh overall.

"Feeling ko may natira pa akong lakas at mag-iimprove pa sa final. Focus lang, huwag ma-pressure, tiwala lang sa training. Lahat naman naghanda (I feel like I still have energy left to improve in the final. I just need to focus, avoid the pressure, and trust my training. Everyone came prepared)," he said.

"Gusto ko talaga maka-produce ng medalya kasi pang-third time ko na ito. Next time, 36 or 37 na ako (I really want to produce a medal because this is already my third time here. By the next edition, I will already be 36 or 37 years old)," he added.

Ubas bagged the heptathlon bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Kazakhstan, setting a national record of 5,246 points. He also registered a new national record in long jump with 7.85m. (PNA)