Obiena resumes quest

MANILA, Philippines — EJ Obiena is bidding to reenter the world top 10 pole vault rankings after slipping from No. 2 to No. 11 last year while dealing with health issues. He started his drive at the ISTAF Indoor Championships, a World Athletics Tour Silver, in Dusseldorf, Germany, last night (early this morning, Manila time) with results not available at presstime.

Obiena, 30, said he’s now pain-free and ready to fly. “Training is going well,” he noted. “The biggest thing is I’m pain-free. The start of the World Indoor Tour Gold for me is in Karsruhe, Germany, on Feb. 8. I’m invited to join the event but it conflicts with the Asian Indoor Championships in Tianjin, China, on Feb. 6-8. We requested Asian Indoor officials to move the pole vault competition to at least Feb. 6 but it wasn’t allowed for some reason so I’m forced to choose between Karsruhe and Tianjin. The Tour Gold has bigger points than Tianjin.”

Obiena aims to qualify for the World Indoor Championships in Kujawy Pomorze, Poland, on March 20-22 and is building up points to make it. The qualification window started last Nov. 1 and ends March 8. Entry standard for men is 5.90m. Athletes may qualify by achieving the entry standard or by virtue of their position in the world rankings as determined by earned points.