Filipino pole vault ace EJ Obiena on Saturday (Philippine time) qualified for the finals of the 2022 World Athletics Championships at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
Aiming to give the Philippines its first-ever medal in the World Athletics, cleared the 5.75 meters on his second attempt to make it to the final along with 11 others, but not after some scary moments.
The Asian record holder needed two attempts to clear 5.5 meters, then coasted past the 5.65 mark. Just like his group B mates, he also failed the 5.75 mark in their first attempts. They all made it through on their second try.
Only Oleg Zernikel of Germany took the challenge in just a single attempt to enter the final. Tokyo Olympics gold medalist and silver medalist Christopher Nilsen cleared the 5.75 with relative ease.
The final takes place on Monday morning (Philippine time) with the 26-year-old Obiena bringing with him the confidence and experience in the past two years that had him setting his own Asian mark of 5.93 meters.
While Obiena seeks to improve on his personal best, the 22-year-old Duplantis, who is the Olympic and world indoor champion, will seek to make another stirring performance.
After winning the World Indoor crown earlier this year, Duplantis managed to set a world record of 6.20 meters.
Also making things challenging for Obiena is the present world No. 2 Christopher Nilsen of the United States and his friend and training partner, 2016 Olympics bronze medalist Thiago Braz of Brazil.