Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13) — Qualified Filipino athletes in the 2022 World Games are up to nine after triathletes Kim Mangrobang and Fernando Casares landed a top 10 finish in their respective divisions in the 2022 AST Asian Duathlon Championships held in Bahrain on Saturday.
Mangrobang secured a spot in the podium after finishing third in the grueling Elite Women category race, behind gold medalist Karin Nieuwenhuijsen of the Netherlands and runner-up Aleisha Wesley of Australia.
Triathlon Association of the Philippines president Tom Carrasco told CNN Philippines that Mangrobang’s feat is the first podium finish for the country in the tournament after 16 years, when Ryan Mendoza bagged the Asian men’s duathlon title.
Mangrobang, a three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, earned her World Games qualification as only the top four Asian athletes in the duathlon race will get their entry to the prestigious international sports competition.
The same criteria is also enforced in the Elite Men division as Casares is the third best Asian in the race and finished sixth place overall.
Rambo Chicano, the other Filipino triathlete who competed in the Asian duathlon tilt, failed to clinch a World Games berth for being the sixth best Asian in the Elite Men category race.
The 2022 World Games is set on July 7-17 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
World Games is an international multi-sport event, where sports not contested in the Olympics are played. It held every four years and it is usually staged a year after the Olympics.
Seven other Filipino athletes have also qualified for the international sports event. They are billiards stars Rublien Amit and Carlo Biado, Muay Thai fighters Leeana Bade and Phillip Delarmino, jiu-jitsu specialist Annie Ramirez, powerlifter Joyce Reboton, and karateka Junna Tsukii.
