Abad snares gold in Asian Cup duathlon

MANILA, Philippines – In what could be a preview of things to come with the possible inclusion of duathlon in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, national duathlete Mirasol Abad did the nation proud by claiming the gold in the women’s standard-distance duathlon of the Pariaman ASTC Triathlon Asian Cup 2015 held Nov. 28 at Pariaman, West Sumatra, Malaysia.

Abad led most of the 10K run-40K bike-5K run, completing it in two hours, 16 minutes, 40 seconds. Eva Desiani of Indonesia finished second in 2:19:00 while Abad’s teammate Miscelle Gilbuena was third in 2:23:47.

In the male standard distance duathlon, Filipinos Robinson Esteves (2:12:32) and Jeric Buhian (2:16:35) finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Compatriot Robeno Javier, 2014 Asian Beach Games duathlon bronze medalist, led the pack early but did not finish after he suffered a flat tire during the first lap of the bike leg.

Estevez could not keep pace with the two Indonesians and a Malaysian while Buhain appeared in bad shape after arriving the night before the race.

The male duathlon event was topped by Adi Jukardi of Indonesia (1:56:03), Martin Loh of Malaysia (1:58:06) and Hari Rohma of Indonesia (2:04:03).

Meanwhile, John Chicano finished 21st overall in the sprint distance triathlon.

“This is a good scouting race of the duathlon competition in Southeast Asia,” said TRAP president and POC chair Tomas Carrasco Jr. “While we dominated the women and might have won in the men’s race, our competition has shown improvement and we need to prepare well to maintain our dominance. I am confident we can do that.”

The team’s campaign was supported by the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee.