HANOI, Vietnam: Asia’s top pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena set his sights on the World Athletics Championships in July after retaining his SEA Games title by easily clearing a Games-record 5.46m on Saturday.
The 26-year-old Filipino, ranked the sixth-best men’s pole vaulter in the world, eclipsed his own previous Southeast Asian Games record 5.45m he set in winning gold in 2019.
But in hazy conditions at My Dinh National Stadium in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, Obiena fell short of bettering his Asian-record 5.93m.
“I wanted to beat the Asian record. You never know how many chances I get, I wanted, I really wanted it today,” he told reporters afterwards, having failed three times at 5.94m.
But he was nevertheless feeling “positive” about the World Championships in Oregon in two months’ time.
“The first battle is I need to make sure I get in there. (First) I get selected to compete and the next one is perform well,” said Obiena, who was joint 11th at last summer’s Tokyo Olympics.
“That’s why I’m here. I’m preparing.”
Asian pole vault king Obiena sets SEA Games record
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Asian pole vault king Obiena sets SEA Games record
- Obiena eclipsed his own previous Southeast Asian Games record 5.45m he set in winning gold in 2019
- The 26-year-old Filipino is ranked sixth-best men’s pole vaulter in the world
Jordan make history as they reach Arab Cup final for first time with narrow victory over Saudi Arabia
- Green Falcons left to rue squandered chances as they miss out on what would have been their first final appearance in the competition since 2002
- Semi-final victory comes during a stellar year for Jordan in which they also qualified for the World Cup for the first time ever
DOHA: A header by Nizar Al-Rashdan gave Jordan a 1-0 victory in a tense match against Saudi Arabia on Monday and sent them to their first Arab Cup final.
Deprived of the services of Yazan Al-Naimat, who suffered a devastating knee injury in their quarter-final against Iraq, Jordan delivered a brave performance, greatly limiting the Saudi attacking threat across the 90 minutes.
The semi-final at Al-Bayt Stadium in Qatar attracted the highest attendance of the tournament so far, a vibrant crowd of 62,825. Both sides began cautiously, with Jordan lining up in a robust 5-4-1 formation that sought to restrict Salem Al-Dawsari and Saleh Abou Al-Shamat in the final third.
The game opened up a little after the break, as a tactical change from Jordan helped them gain greater control on the counterattack. Mohammed Abu Zrayq in particular proved influential down the right flank as he stretched the Saudi defense and gave the Nashama more attacking momentum.
The decisive moment, however, came from the opposite side. Mahmoud Al-Mardi delivered a dipping cross from the left, catching the Green Falcons’ defense off guard, and Al-Rashdan rose to head home the only goal of the match in the 66th minute.
Saudi Arabia responded with a series of substitutions, including the introduction of Al-Qadsiah midfielder Musab Al-Juwayr. The former Al-Hilal player helped link play between Al-Dawsari and Feras Al-Brikan down the left channel as the Saudis pressed for the equalizer.
Al-Brikan and then Saleh Al-Shehri both went close but Yazeed Abulaila stood firm in goal, producing a crucial save just minutes after Jordan took the lead.
The match ended on a particularly sour note for Saudi Arabia when last man Waleed Al-Ahmed was shown a straight red card in the closing moments after bringing down an opponent to halt a counterattack, as Jordan saw out their historic victory.
They now face Morocco, who earlier in the day defeated the UAE 3-0, in the final on Thursday.
