Olympians Ernest John Obiena and John Caban banner the Philippines as the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships start on Friday at the Tuanbo Sports Center in Tianjin, China.

Obiena and Cabang will use the tournament as a qualifier for the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland in March.

Joining the squad are Southeast Asian (SEA) Games bronze medalist Leonard Grospe of high jump and SEA Games champion Hussein Lorana as he suits up in the men’s 800-meter event.

Yacine Guermali remains tentative as he is awaiting his passport at press time while Bernalyn Bejoy, who set a new national indoor record in the women’s 800m of 2:08.36, won’t be able to come due to visa issues.

Philippine Athletics Track and Field secretary general Jasper Tanhueco said the goal in China is simple: to gain an outright berth in the World Championships.

“These are the guys that we hope to qualify for World Indoors in Poland and we have several guys that we think could also qualify. But they’re going to compete in some international competitions,” Tanhuco said.

Obiena needs to clear 5.90m to qualify for the World Championships while Cabang has to finish in 7.65 seconds.

Lorana will be the first Filipino to compete as he vies in the men’s 800m heats on Friday at 11 a.m. (Manila time).