By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
EJ Obiena opened his indoor season campaign on a bright note after clinching the silver medal in the International Jump Meeting Cottbus at the Lausitz-Arena in Germany Wednesday, Jan. 25 (early Thursday in Manila).
The 2020 Tokyo Olympian cleared 5.77 meters on his first try which proved enough to finish second in the event won by American Sam Kendricks, who posted 5.82m.
The world No. 3 Obiena also attempted the 5.82m height, but failed.
Obiena’s feat was far from his indoor personal best of 5.91m, but the Asian record holder is hopeful he can improve his performance as he gears up for to-notch tournaments including the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships on Feb. 10 to 12 in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, Belgium’s Ben Broeders copped the bronze via countback after he and hometown bet Gillian Ladwig registered identical 5.72m.
Other finishers include American Matt Ludwig, Dutch Rutger Koppelaar and Polish Piotr Lisek, who posted similar 5.60m for joint fifth; China’s Huang Bokai with 5.50m; Germany’s Bo Kanda Lita Baehre with 5.40m and Ukraine’s Oleksandr Onufriyev with 5.30m.
