SEA Games long jump champion Janry Ubas lived up to expectations and claimed victory in the 2023 CEL Logistics, Inc. Weekly Relay Series Finals at the Philsports track and field stadium in Pasig City at the conclusion of the 14-week PATAFA all comers athletics meet.
The 29-year-old registered 7.75 meters to prevail over 2023 ROTC Games triple-gold medalist Kent Francis Jardin of Adamson University (6.77m) and Leonard Grospe of Mapua (6.66m) during the first part of the Weekly Relay Finals on October 28. Over the weekend, at the culmination of the weekly athletics meet, Ubas topped the men’s heptathlon, outscoring national teammate Navyman Aries Toledo and FEU’s Ronel Juntilla.
“’Yung panalo ko, it’s a sign na magkakaroon ako ng magandang performance this coming Philipine National Games sa December. Kasi kahit na may nararamdaman akong back pain ngayon, nakapag perform pa rin ako (My victory is a sign that I will have a good performance this coming Philippine National Games (PNG) in December. Because even though I have back pain today I was still able to perform),” said Ubas, who was born and raised in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental province.
“Off-season namin after ng Asian Games tapos ngayon, kababalik lang namin sa training para paghandaan ang PNG. Tuloy-tuloy na preparation ko sa year 2024 (We had an off-season after the Asian Games and now, we have just returned to training to prepare for PNG. I will continue to prepare for the year 2024),” added the world’s No. 48 long jumper.
At the Cambodia SEA Games last May, Ubas leapt 7.85m to capture the individual long jump gold and registered a personal best of 8.08m in the same event in decathlon where he placed second behind Thailand’s Sutthisak Singkhon.
The protégé of national coach Dario De Rosas pocketed the heptathlon bronze medal at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championship in Kazakhstan. He also won the long jump gold medal at the 16th Triveneto Meeting Internationale in Trieste, Italy and Motonet Grand Prix in Lappeenranta, Finland.
At the Hangzhou Asian Games, Ubas finished seventh (7.80) behind China’s Jianan Wang (8.22), India’s Murali Sreeshankar (8.19), China’s Yuhai Shi (8.10), Uzbekistan’s Anvar Anvarov (8.01), Chinese Taipei’s Yu-Tang Lin (7.91) and Hong Kong’s Ming Tai Chan (7.83).
Meanwhile, national squad veteran and Navyman Anfernee Lopena won the men’s 100m gold medal in the Elite/Open division at the second leg of the finals of the meet on Saturday.