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    Pole vault bets anchor six-gold projection for track and field at SEA Games

    Patafa eyes pole vault sweep, six gold-haul in SEA Games
    Nov 16, 2019

    A POSSIBLE sweep of the pole vault gold medals is expected to highlight what the leadership of the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) hopes would be a six-gold medal haul in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

    Patafa president Philip Ella Juico bared the country’s best bets for the golds in the centerpiece event set Dec. 6-10 at the New Clark City Athletics Stadium, led by 2020 Tokyo Olympics-bound EJ Obiena and Nathalie Uy in pole vault.

    Then there’s veteran and multiple gold medalists Eric Cray in the men’s 400 meter hurdles, Fil-Am Carter Lily in the men’s 800m run, William Morrison in the men’s shotput, and Kristina Knott in the women’s century dash.

    “We did come up with the specific projection if you wish, and our assessment right now is we can probably win six,” Juico, the former Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman, said on Friday.

    “More than five of two years ago (2017 Kuala Lumpur) and more than the five of 2015,” added the Patafa chief, who said the Filipinos could have won seven golds in Malaysia had Obiena not suffered an injury days before the meet and a sudden, last-minute change in the schedule made by the host country.

    Juico though stressed the projection could still go higher as Patafa just tried to be conservative with its calculation.

    Other gold medal bets are marathoner Mary Joy Tabal, Said Guermali in the men's 1,500 meters, Clinton Bautista in the men's 110 meter hurdles, Harry Diones in men's triple jump, and Aris Toledo in men's decathlon.

    "It could be anywhere from 6 to 12 golds, that's the most optimistic," according to Juico.

    In all, he said Patafa is looking at bagging 10 silvers and eight bronze medals.

    "I think in Kuala Lumpur, we got five, four, and nine (gold-silver-bronze). So this is an improvement," said Juico. "Hopefully, we're keeping our fingers crossed."

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