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
Liverpool’s Wirtz will score many more after Wolves winner, says Slot
- Liverpool signed Florian Wirtz in June for a reported fee of £100 million, with a further £16 million in potential bonuses
- The 22-year-old had failed to find the net in more than 20 appearances for Liverpool before scoring the winner in Saturday’s match
Florian Wirtz is beginning to find his feet at Liverpool and will keep getting better, manager Arne Slot said after the German midfielder scored his first goal for the Premier League champions in their 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Liverpool signed Wirtz in June for a reported fee of 100 million pounds ($135 million), with a further 16 million pounds in potential bonuses.
The 22-year-old had failed to find the net in more than 20 appearances for Liverpool before scoring the winner in Saturday’s match, and Slot said his performances had been undervalued due to football’s obsession with statistics.
“I’m quite sure it was a relief for him. This I could see after his reaction after he scored the goal – and the same I saw with his teammates. I think they were really happy for him,” Slot told reporters.
“In football – rightly so, maybe – we mainly get judged on results, and individuals mainly get judged on goals and assists. Sometimes we tend to forget what else there is to do during a game.”
The Dutch manager called on Wirtz to keep going after ending his drought.
“He’s had multiple good games for us but I also feel he gets better and better every single game he is playing for us. He gets fitter and fitter and was getting closer and closer to his first goal,” he added.
“Then it was not a surprise to me that he scored one today, but he would probably be the first one to understand that one goal is not enough.
“He will score many more goals for us than only this one, but I also liked his performance during large parts of the game today. I think he was special in a lot of moments.”
Liverpool, fourth in the standings, next host 16th-placed Leeds United in a league match on January 1.
