Ubas rearms for Paris

MANILA, Philippines — SEA Games long jump gold medalist Janry Ubas failed to accumulate enough qualifying points to book a ticket to the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Aug. 19-27 but his consolation is what he has compiled so far will add to his total in trying to nail a slot for the Paris Olympics.

Ubas, 29, was ranked No. 53 in the world standings three weeks ago then jumped to No. 43 but fell to No. 51 as results of other athletes came in to close the qualification period for Budapest last Sunday. Only the top 36 made it with each country limited to three qualifiers.

Ubas attempted to crack the cut-off and won two competitions in Europe after reaching the final to finish seventh at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok last month. The Bangkok result was worth 90 points as the competition was in the GL or Asian senior category.

His victory in Finland registered 60 points in category C and in Italy 40 points in category D.

PATAFA secretary-general Edward Kho said the quickest way for Ubas to bag an Olympic ticket is to register a jump of 8.27m which is the performance standard for qualification. Ubas’ best mark is 8.08 which he set as a national record in the long jump event of decathlon at the SEA Games last May. Pole vaulter EJ Obiena is the first Filipino to qualify for Paris. Obiena and 400m hurdler Robyn Brown will represent the country in Budapest.

“All of Janry’s points will be carried over for Olympic qualification so the race begins today,” said Kho. “The Olympic qualification is up to June 30 next year. Janry has a World Athletics-accredited agent to make it easier for him to get into the queue of sanctioned meets. He missed out on the World Championships qualification. Cumulative ang system kaya hindi malakihan ang jump ng points.” The ranking system computes the average of the best five scores during the qualifying period and points are determined by the classification of each tournament in terms of level of competition. There are also measures to modify points according to wind reading and course conditions. “For Budapest, Janry needed about three to four meets that he should top to dislodge at least No. 36 assuming those ahead of him will not have any movement,” explained Kho. “But these points he has will carry over to the Olympic qualification system.”