Obiena soars to glory anew

MANILA, Philippines — Paris Olympics-bound Filipino pole-vaulter EJ Obiena added another record-breaking effort as he shattered the 26-year-old Asian indoor mark in a golden performance in the ISTAF Indoor in Berlin, Germany Friday.

Just days after topping with relative ease the Memorial Josip Gasparac in Osijek, Croatia, the World Championship silver winner stayed on an assault mode and smashed the 5.92-meter mark Kazakhstan’s Igor Potapovich set in Stockholm, Sweden in 1988.

Obiena cleared 5.93m in the Berlin meet and in the process also reset the national indoor standard of 5.91m he himself registered in the Perch Elite Tour in Rouen, France two years ago.

It was also Obiena’s season best after a 5.83m in Osijek.

Minus familiar faces like Swedish titan Armand Duplantis, Obiena was untouchable, blowing past the field that included American Tray Oates and Polish Robert Sobera, who had 5.75m and 5.66m for silver and bronze, respectively.

Obiena will have a shot at Duplantis as they slug it out with the other world stars in the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland from March 1 to 3.