JARAULA CONQUERS VALLEY BY 5 STROKES

REYMON JARAULA repelled all last-ditch rallies he faced in the final round on Friday with a decisive birdieeagle feat from No. 10 to pound out a 71 and a five-stroke victory over Lloyd Go and Clyde Mondilla in the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Valley Golf Challenge in Antipolo City. Not to mention that he also had to survive a wobbly finish.

Obiena brings medal-clinching act to Norway

By Josef Ramos

ERNEST JOHN “EJ” OBIENA vies in two competitions in Norway starting with the Bergen Jump Challenge on Saturday with the same game plan he used in clinching a bronze medal last week in Poland.

Obiena, the world No. 3 pole vaulter and Asian record holder, will be using longer poles in his Norwegian sojourn that wraps up with the Oslo Bislett Games on Thursday.

EJ used bigger poles in training and bigger poles mean more power and more height,” Obiena’s long-time adviser Jim Lafferty told BusinessMirror on Friday.

O biena made 5.72 meters in clinching bronze in Bydgoszcz, Poland, where he kicked off his outdoor campaign. He finished behind American Chris Nilsen (5.92) and Pole Piotr Lisek (5.82).

L afferty said Obiena’s plan is to be consistent in the three meets and later improve on his height come the Olympic qualification window starting July 1.

O biena needs to clear 5.82 meters—below his Asian record of 5.4—to return to the Olympics in Paris next year.

“All of these are part of a wellplanned process by EJ and Coach Vitaly [Petrov] to adjust to various changes in his approach—and move to bigger poles—ahead of major competitions coming up such as Asian Games and world championships,” Lafferty said.

Obiena has his eyes on the Olympic qualifying standard either at the Asian Championships in Pattaya from July 12 to 16, World Athletics Championships in Budapest from August 19 to 27 and the Hangzhou Asian Games from September 23 to October 8.