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Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Surban, Bitbit top potential Seag foes
By Jade S. Violeta
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Members of the RP mountainbike team sent a strong warning to their rivals in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games (Seag) after a strong performance in the 11th Asian MTB Championships in Bali, Indonesia.
Although they failed to take home the championship, the four RP riders bested most of their expected rivals in the SEA Games mountainbike event, which will be staged in Danao City on Nov. 27-28.
RP team’s lone lady rider, Cebu’s Marites Bitbit, a 2003 Vietnam SEA Games Women’s bronze medalist, stamped the strongest showing among the members of the national squad under national coaches Oscar “Boying” Rodriguez and PhilCycling’s Renato Mier, as she finished sixth overall behind the 1-2-3-4 finish of the Chinese and Japanese riders.
Bitbit bested all her expected strong rivals in the SEA Games as well as Japanese rider Fukai Kaoru.
Men’s division
Among the Southeast Asian riders who ate Bitbit’s dust were Vietnam silver medalist Siraporm of Thailand and three of her teammates who quit the race.
Another Cebuano, Niño Surban, a silver medalist in the Malang Indonesia 2nd SEA MTB Championships and the 2004 1st SEA MTB Championships in Danao, finished eighth but also bested all but one of his expected SEA Games rivals.
Surban started slow at 22nd place in the first stretch, but slowly caught up with his Seag rivals except for Thai Masae Tawatchi, who has been training in Switzerland and Europe.
It was a splendid performance for the 18-year-old Surban as only riders from powerhouse China, Japan, Tour de France team Kazakhstan and Tawatchi were ahead of him. Two Indonesians trailed Surban at the ninth and 10th places.
Meanwhile, Erick Feliciano, the 2002 Vietnam SEA Games and 2002 Asian MTB Championships bronze medalist; and Eboy Quinones, the 2002 Vietnam SEA Games gold medalist, finished 11th and 12th.
A total of 15 Asian countries led by China, Japan and South Korea participated in the race staged under a searing 40-degree sun.
(August 24, 2005 issue)
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