By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Pole vault star EJ Obiena is obviously not yet in great form after last month’s knee surgery.
Obiena equaled his 5.70-meter effort in placing fourth in last week’s Berlin meet, but against a powerhouse field, it was not enough.
So finished 8th this time in an 11-played fiend in the Beijer Stavhoppsgala at the IFU Arena in Uppsala, Sweden Wednesday (early Thursday in Manila).
The national and Asian record holder drew level with three others, including two-time world champion Sam Kendricks of the United States.
Obiena and Kendricks, however, shared for 8th place after the countback.
Though he attempted 5.81m, Obiena failed.
Hometown bet and world record holder Armand Duplantis expectedly dominated the 11-player field with a season-best 6.04m.
The reigning Olympic champion tried to erase his world record of 6.18m by attempting 6.19m, but failed.
Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Chris Nilsen and fellow American KC Lightfoot posted similar 5.92m, but Nilsen claimed second via countback.
Former European Youth champion Emmanouil Karalis of Greece and Norwegian Pal Haugen Lillefosse finished fourth and fifth with 5.81m, while Dutch standout Menno Vloon and 2016 Rio Olympics gold medalist Thiago Braz of Brazil shared sixth with 5.70m.
Belgium’s Ben Broeders and Poland’s Piotr Lisek finished 10th and 11th with 5.55m.
Next stop for Obiena would be the Orlen Cup 2022 in Lodz, Poland set Friday.
