Gaining redemption will be Ernest John Obiena’s ultimate objective when he competes in the men’s pole vault event of the Xiamen Diamond League on Saturday at the Xiamen Egret Stadium in China.

Action kicks off at 6:35 p.m. with Obiena looking to bounce back from a sluggish indoor campaign with a strong performance in the first major event of the outdoor season.

The 29-year-old Obiena is entering the tournament in top shape as he has fully recovered from his back injury that caused him to finish fourth in the Paris Olympics last year and miss the World Athletics Indoor Championships last March.

His mother, Jeanette, said Obiena is pumped up and ready to go after training at the Vermosa Sports Hub in Imus City under the watchful eyes of his Ukrainian mentor Vitaly Petrov and training partner Hussein Al-Hizam of Saudi Arabia.

“They are happy with the training camp here. He has no more injuries, so they are adapting again,” Obiena’s mother, Jeanette, said.

“The physical therapists, coaches and the training partner are here. Well, they’re aiming to have a much better height than the indoor stint because he only had a short amount of time to prepare for the indoor season back then.”

Obiena looks to make a great start in the Diamond League to earn points for the final that will be held in Zurich in August.

Last year, the Asian Games champion missed the remaining legs of the Diamond League to focus on recovering from his back injury.

But his campaign in the Xiamen leg will be easier said than done as world record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden will banner the competition as well as Paris Olympics silver medalist Sam Kendricks of the United States, and Paris Games bronze medalist Emmanouil Karalis of Greece.

Completing the cast are Ben Broeders of Belgium, Kurtis Marschall of Australia, Ersu Sasma of Turkey, Menno Vloon of the Netherlands, Sondre Guttormsen of Norway, and home bets Huang Bokai and Li Chenyang.