Asian triathlon heavyweights Japan and Hong Kong split top honors in the open elite division Sunday in the NTT-ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
Despite difficulties coping with the heat and humidity, Maeda said he expected to win the race that started at the ACEA beach resort and ended at the oval track of Remy Field.
Choi, on the other hand, said: “It was a nice race, good swim and I had a good bike pack with Claire setting the pace which helped us a lot.”
The HK lass was referring to Claire Adorna who set the pace in swimming and cycling before fading to eighth place.
Asian Triathlon Confederation president Justin Park and Legazpi Mayor Noel Rosal were on hand to award the trophies to the winners of the event organized by the Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) in cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).
Korean Ji Hwan Kim finished second behind Maeda with a time of 1: 54.44 while another Japanese, Kotaro Watanabe, took third place in 1:55.59.
Rounding out the top five finishers were Korean Seung Hun Seo (1: 56.39) and Japanese Genta Uchida (1:56.45).
John Chicano was the best-placed Filipino followed by Mark Hosana and 2015 Southeast Asian Games champion Nikko Huelgas. All three, however, failed to land in the Top 10.
In the women’s race, Kim Mangrobang finished fifth behind four foreigners.