The chance to rack up points and also size up the opposition in two major meets down the road will be tops on the agenda of the Philippine national athletics team as it vies in the talent-laden Taiwan Open on 27 and 28 May in New Taipei City.
The Filipino bets will depart for Taiwan on Thursday on two separate flights since only Philippine Airlines has agreed to ship pole vault equipment.
The others will get on board a China Airways flight the leaves at 10:35 a.m. around the same time the Philippine Airlines jet takes off for the Taiwanese capital.
Southeast Asian Games long jump gold medalist Janry Ubas and Johnmike Lera will take the China Airways flight alongside Clinton Bautista (110-meter hurdles), Sonny Waagdos (5000, and 10000m), Leonard Gorospe (high jump), Edgar Carado (800m and 1500m), Hokett delos Santos (pole vault), Frederick Ramirez (400m), Abcd Agamanos (triple jump) and Lianne Pama (women's 100m and 200m).
Accompanying them are national coaches Sean Guevarra, Dario de Rosas and John Lozada.
Philippine Track and Field Association secretary general Edward Kho said the trackfest will offer premium points and serve as two separate buildups for the country's participation in the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships in Pattaya, Thailand from 12 to 16 July and the 19th Asian Games from 23 September to 8 October in Hangzhou, China.
With the Taiwan Open sanctioned by the World Athletics, Kho said this will be a great opportunity for the athletes to earn points to qualify for the 2023 World Athletics Championships from 19 to 27 August in Budapest, Hungary.
"This competition is to help them maintain their sharpness in preparation for the Asian Championships. This is a transitional competition," Kho said.
"All of the national championships have points allotted courtesy of World Athletics. They can get as many as 100 points if they get first place."
Kho said they expect tough competition as countries like Japan and Korea will be expected to join as well.
"Basically, it will be mostly East Asian countries like Taiwan and Hong Kong. Korea and Japan will most likely join here as well."
"This will be a preview for the Asian Games," he added.