The foreign bets are once again favored to stamp their class but the local aces are ready for the challenge when the Elite category of the 2017 Powerman Philippines Asian Championship Presented by Summit Natural Drinking Water unwraps tomorrow at Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga.
Thomas Bruins of the Netherlands banners the men’s field that includes Matt Smith of Australia, and Malaysians Ziq Junaidy and Jason Loh with John Chicano, Joey delos Reyes and Cipriane Topia tipped to carry the cudgels for the Filipinos in the premier run-bike-run event organized by F&F International Events Group.
Japanese Airi Sawada and Alexandra McDougall, also from Australia, lead the chase in the women’s Elite side.
The event also serves as a qualifying event for the next Powerman World Championships.
“It’s all about investing in the Filipino duathlete’s potential, pushing their boundaries, and expanding their competitive horizons with the ultimate goal of sending our top Filipino duathlete to the Powerman World Championships,” said Powerman Philippines’ general manager, coach Kaye Lopez.
Events on tap are the premier Powerman Classic (10km run, 60km bike and 10km run), the Powerman Short (5km run, 30km bike and 5km run) and the Powerteens set on smooth, wide roads of Clark with the course offering scenic views of NLEX-SCTEx.
Filipina Monica Torres, who ruled the ITU Asian Middledistance division in the recent Powerman Asian Duathlon in Malaysia, has begged off at the last minute due to health reasons.
Smith, meanwhile, joins Bruins, the current No. 2 in Powerman world ranking, in the centerpiece division with the world No. 9 also fancied to vie for the crown in the event which drew 1,127 participants in the individual and relay competitions.