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Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Rivals too much for RP riders in Asian championships
By Marianne L. Saberon
TEAM Philippines fell by the wayside in the just-concluded 2003 MTB Asian Championships in Moya Hills, Aomori, Japan.
RP's top rider Eusebio Quiñones only placed 12th while teammates Frederick Feliciano and Davao City's Ruel Casaljay finished at 21st and 24th spots, respectively, in the men's cross-country event.
Quiñones clocked two hours, 39 minutes and 50.35 seconds in the race organized by the Japan Cycling Federation.
Japan bets Shinobu Noguchi registered 2:19:04.24 and Hiroki Irokawa timed 2:21:00.16 to grab the championship and runner-up honors, respectively.
Both Japanese riders have qualified to compete in the 2004 Athens Olympics along with women's champion Yanping Ma of China, who clocked 2:27:35.54.
Chinese entries Xiaojun Shao of China (2:21:47.07), Fuyu Li (2:22:44.83) and Yongbiao Zhu (2:23:51.75) took the third to fifth places in the men's side.
Japan's Kenji Takeya (2:24:08.90), China's Xueli Jiang (2;28:39.51), Japan's Takanori Yamaguchi (2:29:09.15), Indonesian Usman Ali (2:34:17.29) and Hongkong's Chun Hing Chan (2:37:01.76) complete the top 10 finishers.
In the women's category, RP's lone entry Bay Maritess Bitbit settled for 11th place after registering 2:48:51.16 behind No. 10 Jiraporn Jantarus of Thailand (2:43:41.68).
Another Filipino Michael Borja also took the 11th spot in the downhill category dominated by Reiji Oshima of Japan.
Oshima rode his bike 33 kilometers per hour for a time of 3:05.44 while Borja recorded 4:47.66, 21.28 km/hr. The RP riders are set to arrive Thursday.
Casaljay, 9th So Kim Cheng Sports Foundation awardee, will focus his attention in the 3rd Mindanao Games on October 19 to 24 in Mati, Davao Oriental.
(September 24, 2003 issue)
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