By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
EJ Obiena lost his steam and finished seventh in the ISTAF Indoor tournament at the PSD Bank Dome in Dusseldorf, Germany on Sunday, Feb. 9 (early Monday, Philippine time).
Coming off a golden victory at the Meeting Metz Moselle Athletor in France the day before, the world No. 4 Obiena couldn’t keep his momentum going by tallying 5.55 meters in the eight-player field.
Local bet Torben Blech ruled the tournament after clearing the bar at 5.80m, while American Sam Kendricks bagged the silver with 5.70m.
Turkey’s Ersu Sasma also posted 5.70m, but settled for the bronze via countback.
Obiena immediately went for 5.55m after skipping the opening height of 5.30m and 5.45m. After clearing it with little trouble, he passed 5.65m and 5.75m and tried 5.75m to no avail.
Another German in Bo Kanda Lita Baehre, United States’ Austin Miller and local bet Oleg Zernikel finished with 5.65m for fourth to sixth places, respectively, while China’s Huang Bokai did not register any mark after unsuccessful attempts in his opening height of 5.45m.
