Chinese reign in Asian triathlon mixed relay

MANILA, Philippines - China ruled the first ever Asian mixed relay even as the Philippines, Malaysia and Korea bagged three gold medals in the para-triathlon at the close of the K-Swiss Subic Bay ASTC Asian Triathlon yesterday at the Subic Bay Freeport.

The Dungaree Beach was the site of action on the third and final day of the event organized by Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP)  in cooperation with Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and presented by K-Swiss.

The mixed relay was a 750m swim, 18K bike and 5K run while the para-triathlon was raced at  300m swim, 6K bike and 2K run.

Leading from start to finish, Fan Dan, Duan Zhengyu Huang Yuting and Bai Faquan clocked one hour, 31 minutes and 22 seconds in the race also supported by Standard Insurance, Century Tuna, Speedo, David’s Salon, Asian Centre for Insulation Philippines (ACIP), Gatorade, Fitness First, Garmin, Canon, PLDT, Harbor Point Ayala Mall, SM Cares Subic and Philippine Sports Commission.

Another Chinese team made up of Xin Lingxi, Xu Zheng, Wang Lianyuan and Zhang Yiming came in second at 1:31:58 but  the silver went to Japan made up of Ohara Sumire, Tanaguchi Shiruba, Matsumoto Fumika and Furuya Jumpei (1:32:41) under  the  one-medal-per-country rule.

At third (1:33:41) was the Hong Kong team of Joyce Cheng Ting Yan, Wright Andrew, Lee Yuk Ying Aggie and Tam Joe Dick Dickson.

“The team did an excellent job in today’s race. In general, I’m happy with our athletes’ performance,“said Chen Xiaoran, secretary-general of China Triathlon Sports Association thru an interpreter.

Meanwhile, five competitors saw action in the race for the differently-abled with Sabki Bin Arifin Mohd of Malaysia dominating the Tri-4 category.

Sabki, 32, whose left arm was amputated because of a motorcycle accident, banked on his strong showing in the swim leg as he built an eight-minute advantage over Filipino bet Sixto Ducay.