John Albert Mantua secured a slot in the Philippine team bound to the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam after surpassing the SEAG standard in men’s shot put during the MILO-PATAFA Performance Trials Wednesday at the Baguio Athletic Bowl.
Mantua heaved a personal- and season-best 17.02 meters to eclipse the SEAG bronze-medal standard of 16.40m for a spot in the SEAG-bound team.
His performance was actually one centimeter short of the silver-medal mark at 2019 SEAG courtesy of Malaysia’s Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli.
Meanwhile, Janry Ubas currently leads in decathlon after three events with 2,390 points, followed by Aries Toledo with 2,316 points. Two events namely high jump and 400 meters are being contested at press time.
Ubas is a bronze medalist in the 2019 SEAG while Toledo is the defending champion.
In women’s heptathlon, reigning SEAG gold medalist Sarah Dequinan bolstered her campaign by topping the shot put event with 10.89m. Josefa Ligmayo and Alexie Mae Caimoso followed suit with 10.28m and 10.23m.