Japan rules ITU Duathlon Open

Takashi Nakata banked on his solid biking skills to upstage his counterparts in the ITU Subic Bay Duathlon Open held at the Subic Bay Event and Convention Center at the Subic Bay Freeport. Nakata overpowered local rivals Robeno Javier and Neil Catiil in the bike race. The 31-year-old Japanese bucked problems with his gear, and turned on the heat in the final kilometer to bag the title. A fourth-place finisher in the 2004 Asian Duathlon Championships in Clark, Nakata appears to have improved by leaps and bounds. He submitted one hour, 58 minutes and 24 seconds to beat Robeno by just four seconds in this 10-K run, 40-K bike and 5-K run event organized by the Triathlon Association of the Philippines in cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). “This is my first win in nine years as a duathlete and my first in two tournaments in the Philippines and I’m very happy. The two Filipinos gave me a big challenge, but I was able to outsprint them in the final one kilometer for this win," said Nakata, a Computer Engineering at a leading firm in Tokyo. “Akala namin ay kakayanin namin sa bike dahil may mga ahunan sa ruta, pero malakas din pala siya at kami ang naubos. Kaya kahit sinikap ko na habulin siya ay talagang ubos na ako," said Robeno who timed 1:58:28. This is the second tournament in two weeks for Robeno, but the silver medal finish made up for his disqualification in the Powerman Duathlon in Malaysia. Still tired after representing the country in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, Catiil settled for the bronze in 1:59:04. The Japanese invasion was completed following Airi Sawada’s domination in the women’s dvision and Masaaki Kurihara and Ami Haishima topping the Under-23 category. Sawada easily stamped her class on the field from start to finish, coming in at 2:17:18, more than three minutes ahead of closest pursuer Mirasol Abad of the Philippines, who clocked 2:20:42. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV