RP tracksters strike for 6 golds in Malaysian Open tilt

The six-man Philippine track team went perfect in delivering the gold medals in the 2010 Malaysian Open Invitational Track and Field Association held at the National Sports Council training track in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur over the weekend. Laos SEA Games gold medalist and Asian Games-bound athletes Henry Dagmil, Arniel Ferrera, Rene Herrera, Danilo Fresnido and Rosie Villarito stamped their class to rule their respective events in a meet that served as part of their training for the Guangzhuo Asiad this month. “Their performance validated their inclusion in the Asian Games delegation. They have shown their class against their respective rivals in Southeast Asia," said Philippine Amateur Track and Field chief Go Teng Kok. A total of 14 countries took part in the two-day athletics event. Dagmil made his golden leap in his first attempt measured at 7.34 meters to win over Malaysians Mohd Syarul Amri (7.24) and Jen Chan Guo (7.23). Ferrera recorded 57.47 meters to win the hammer throw gold against Malaysian rivals Jackie Wong (52.13) and Azman Mohamad (43.72), while Herrera submitted the fastest time in the 3000-meter steeplechase at 9:00.53 to beat Chinese Taipei’s Wu Wen Chien (9:14.90) and Ho Chin Ping (9:18.59). Villarito and Fresnido made their mark in the javelin throw event. Villarito hurled a distance of 48.79 meters to dominate the distaff side while Fresnido completed 63.87 meters in his throw, which was enough to land him a gold medal in the men’s javelin throw event and topple Mohn Bakri Hamid (58.65) and Josmon Justin (56.04) from the host country. Hurdles specialist Sheena Atilano topped her favorite 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.26 seconds to give the country its sixth gold medal. She bested Malaysians Raja Nursheena (14.66) and Nur Fazlinda Shafie (15.30). “Their records are not their personal best because our training has yet to taper off. But they competed despite being in continuous hard training. I do expect our athletes to do better and break their personal records in the coming Asian Games," said coach Joseph Sy. The six-gold-medal haul enabled the Philippines to finish third overall behind Malaysia (12 gold, 25 silver and 24 bronze medals) and Chinese Taipei (six gold, one silver and four bronze medals). Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Singapore, Morocco, Qatar and Iran also competed. Marestella Torres and Eduardo Buenavista, two highly-touted members of the RP track team for the quadrennial meet, did not join the squad in the Malaysian joust. Torres opted to rest while Buenavista’s event, the marathon, was not part of the Malaysian Open. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV