TAGAYTAY City—Guimaras rider Ben Rian Babica used a borrowed bike to earn himself a bronze medal finish in the 375-meter course of the 2023 Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC) BMX Championships on a rainy and foggy Saturday at the Tagaytay City BMX Park.
It was the 17-year-old Babica’s first title at an international meet, and after testing his skills against more experienced riders from Malaysia and Thailand, Amer Akbar Anuar and Inoksong Nantakon of Thailand.
Babica, on board a blue bike borrowed from renowned Visayan mountain bike champion Nino Martin Eday, got his best time in round 3 of their best-of-three affair and completed the course in 39.58 seconds.
Amer Akbar Anuar, one of Malaysia’s top cross-country specialists, finished with the best time of 36.03 seconds time for the gold amid occasional rains and foggy weather that caused the competition to be interrupted from time to time.
Inhoksong Nontakon of Thailand, ranked no. 149 in the world, earned the silver medal, finishing very close behind Anuar in 36.03 seconds.
“Masama ang pakiramdam ko dahl isa ulan. Pero first time ko silang nakalaban at malalakas sila. Dahil nakasabay ko ay mga malalakas, OK na rin ang performance ko. Dahil kapag malalakas ang nakakasabay mo, mag-iimprove ka dahil sa kanila,” said Babica.
In the freestyle event, China came up with a 1-2 finish by Yawen Deng and Qian Zheng in the women’s action, with 82 and 77 points respectively.