Knott tops 200m sprint in Singapore T/F

MANILA, Philippines — With sprinter Kristina Knott spearheading the charge, Team Philippines opened its stint in the 81st Singapore Open Track and Field Championships with one gold, three silvers and a bronze Thursday at Singapore Sportshub.

Knott, the country’s current sprint queen, reigned supreme in the women’s 200-meter run, where she submitted a winning 23.79 seconds over Singaporean Veronica Pereira (23.85) and Indonesian Alvi Tehepeiory (24.85).

Knott’s golden performance was complemented by the runner-up feats of Marco Vilog (men’s 800m run), Francis Medina (men’s 400m hurdles), and Harry Diones (men’s triple jump) and the third-place finish of Albert Mantua (men’s discus throw).

Vilog clocked 1:51.63 to place second behind Japanese Tatsuy Nishikubo of Waseda University (1:50.83) and ahead of Vietnamese Luong Duc Phuong, who got third in 1:56.14.

For his part, Medina timed 51.52 seconds to take the silver in the event won by Japanese Olympian Keisuke Nozawa in 49.59 seconds even as Diones settled for No. 2 with his 15.96m effort behind reigning Southeast Asian Games titlist Muhammad Ismail of Malaysia, who made 16.01 on his last jump.

Mantua threw the disc to 45.69 meters to land in the podium alongside champ Phan Than Binh of Vietnam (48.09m) and Eric Yee of Safsa (45.94m).

Elsewhere, javelin throwers Melvin Calano and Evalyn Palabrica reset their personal bests with heaves of 69.48m and 48.34m, respectively. Taiwanese Cheng Chao Tsun (83.30) was the winner in Calano’s field while Thai Natta Nachan (52.57m) ruled Palabrica’s event.