Guermali, Ubas sizzle early

Yacine Guermali and Janry Ubas made their presence felt as they won their respective events in the opening salvo of the Philippine Athletics Championships yesterday at the Philsports Complex in Pasig City.

The Filipino-Moroccan Guermali made an immediate impact in his first tournament in the country as he ruled the men’s 5000-meter run while Ubas flaunted his might in the men’s long jump event following a solid campaign in the Hong Kong Athletics Championship over the weekend.

Guermali, 24, clocked 14 minutes and 18.82 seconds, which is more than a minute slower than the Olympic qualifying time of 13:05.

Southeast Asian Games silver medalist Sonny Wagdos picked up another silver medal after clocking in 14:54.95 minutes while Noli Torre of Spectrum Runners clinched the bronze medal after a time of 15:05 minutes.

Guermali, however, stressed that he is satisfied with his performance as he kicked off his race before 6 a.m. to avoid the punishing Manila weather.

“We competed pretty early so it wasn’t that bad. We ran at around 6 a.m. so it was a good race,” said Guermali, whose mother Juliet Quilban hails from Nueva Vizcaya.

“For me, the important races are coming up. On Sunday, I’ll race here again in the 1500m, in Japan at the end of May and two races in the United States in June.”

Ubas was also impressive after soaring to 7.83 meters to secure the gold medal in this prestigious annual tourney that stakes ranking points for the Summer Olympics.

Kent Francis Jardin of Adamson University came in second place after tallying 7.39m with Algin Gomez of Mapua University taking the bronze after a distance of 7.30m.

“I’m planning to join five tournaments to secure my spot in the rankings. I’m at No. 40 but the competition to get into the top 32 is close,” Ubas said, adding that he is using the event as a launchpad for bigger international tournaments ahead.

“I have a competition in Japan on 12 May but that is still pending since my passport was put on hold as I was processing my visa at the Denmark embassy since I am also planning to compete in Estonia.”

Also emerging victorious in the first day of hostilities are Elizabeth Sicat of Adamson, who posted 33.35 meters in women’s U20 javelin throw; Heart Duarte of University of the East, who notched 11.68 meters in the women’s U18 shot put; and Daniella Daytana of 5 Throws for All, who registered 43.10 meters in the women’s discus throw.