POLE vaulter Ernest John "EJ" Obiena will try today, September 30, to bag a gold medal that continues to elude the Philippines at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.The pole vault competition starts at 7:05 p.m. at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium.Obiena, who is ranked second in the world, is expected to have the edge over his Asian rivals. Last July, he won in the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok, Thailand.Obiena cleared 5.91 meters to defend his title and establish a new record in Bangkok.
Ernest John "EJ" Obiena. File PhotoHussain Asim al-Hizam of Saudi Arabia finished second with 5.56 meters, and Huang Bokai of China placed third with 5.51 meters.Obiena will again be facing al-Hizam and Huang in Hangzhou.Also competing are Seito Yamamoto of Japan, Ivan Tovchenik of Kazakhstan, Jaffar Ashraf of Pakistan, Seifeldin Abdelsalam of Qatar, Han Duhyeon of South Korea, Patsapong Amsamarng and Kasinpob Chomchanad of Thailand.None of them has cleared 6.0 meters, the Asian record and personal best jump of Obiena.Obiena last competed almost two weeks ago in the Diamond League final in Eugene, Oregon, where he finished second to world No. 1 Armand Duplantis of Sweden.Obiena cleared 5.82 meters in that meet, but Duplantis set a new world record of 6.23 meters.Midway through the Hangzhou Games, the Philippines has picked up one silver and six bronze medals.Two of the bronze medals were won by tennis sensation Alexandra "Alex" Eala.On Friday, Eala and partner Francis Casey Alcantara lost to Chinese Taipei's Liang En-Shuo and Huang Tsung-hao, 7-5, 6-3, in the mixed doubles semifinals to settle for third place.The 18-year-old Eala earlier bagged the bronze in women's singles after being pushed to the limit by Chinese top-seeded Zheng Qinwen, 6-1, 6-7, 6-3, in a semifinal match that lasted 3 hours and 11 minutes.Zheng, who is ranked 25th in the world, eventually won the gold on Friday after beating compatriot Zhu Lin, 6-2, 6-4.In an Instagram post after her bronze medal finish in the singles event, the former US Open Juniors champion Eala said she gave it everything she got.It was the first time since the 2006 Games in Qatar that the Philippines won two medals in tennis.Filipino American Cecil Mamiit won two bronze medals in the men's singles and doubles in Qatar.Still in the hunt for a gold is the women's football team.On Thursday night, the Filipinas shut out Myanmar 3-0 to advance to the knockout stage at the Wenzhou Olympic Sports Center.It will be the first time in 65 years that a Philippine football team has qualified for the knockout stage. The men's team last reached this far in the 1958 Tokyo Asiad.Midfielder Sarina Bolden's goal and two more from fellow midfielder Sara Eggesvik sealed the win for the Filipinas.In the first half, Bolden opened the scoring for the Philippines, after being fouled.Eggesvik scored two goals in the second half."I'm glad to help the team going to the knockout stage ... so I'm glad to get on the scoresheet, but it's always a team effort, and I'm glad the team did really well today," Eggesvik said in a video posted by the team."We set ourselves to score in this game, and we scored very well, and we were excellent. ... I'm grateful to be part of this opportunity and now we progress to the next stage, which is excellent," Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso said.With the victory, the Filipinas ended with a 2-1 record in group E and will play Japan in the knockout stage today.