Paris Olympian John Cabang booked a seat in the men’s 60-meter hurdles final of the 12th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships at the Tuanbo Sports Centre Athletic Arena in Tianjin, China.

The 24-year-old Cabang clocked in 7.80 seconds in Heat 2 and earned himself a chance to duplicate or surpass his bronze-medal finish in the 2024 edition of the Asian Championships in Tehran, Iran.

Defending champion David Yefremov of Kazakhstan topped Heat 2 with 7.71 seconds while Xu Zhuoyi of China, who placed second the last time, finished in second place with 7.76 seconds.

The Spain-based Filipino hurdler has an opportunity to reset the national record of 7.64 seconds he himself set in the Iranian capital as he competes in the final at press time.

Another Filipino competing for a gold as of writing is pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena.

Obiena is also aiming to clear at least 5.90 meters to qualify for the World Athletics Indoor Championships at the Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena in Torun, Poland from 20 to 22 March.

The 30-year-old Obiena is competing against 2023 Asian Games silver medalist and home bet Huang Bokai of China and bronze medalist Hussain Asim Al Hizam of Saudi Arabia, who also trains under Ukrainian mentor Vitaly Petrov.

Southeast Asian Games (SEA) silver medalist Patsapong Amsam-Ang of Thailand will be challenging Obiena for the gold after pushing each other to the limit last December in the prestigious biennial meet before he fell short due to countback.

The first day saw SEA Games gold medalist Hussein Loraña clock 1:50.74 in the 800m event in his debut in the Asian tilt.

Leonard Grospe also competed in the men’s high jump as he finished sixth out of 16 competitors after tallying 2.05m.