Vertek ends up 17th in marathon

GUANGZHOU – Eduardo “Vertek” Buenavista staggered in a chilly morning run in the middle of the pack and finished 17th, 33 minutes off the pace, in the men’s marathon, last event of the XVI Asian Games.

Buenavista clocked 2 hours, 45 minutes, seven seconds, way off his mark of 2:18.00, and never had the chance to catch up in the race won by Korean Ji Youngun in a fast 2:11:11.

The silver went to Japanese Yukihiro Kitaoka (2:12:46) and the bronze to Mubarak Shami of Qatar (2:12:53).

With the last man out, the Philippine tally stood at 3-4-9 as the last group of the Philippine contingent, led by chef de mission Joey Romasanta, flies to Manila today after its 14-day participation in the quadrennial competition.

The athletes and officials are to arrive in morning and afternoon direct flights from Guangzhou via China Southern Lines.

The Philippine contingent, however, will break camp on Dec. 1 after the departure of the skeleton force composed of the secretariat and budget officers.

Administrative officer Moying Martelino was making final arrangements last night for the travel of basketball players Gillan Ababou and Aldrech Ramos whose accreditation cards were withdrawn on the first day in favor of new recruits Chris Lutz and Solomon Mercado.

The accreditation cards are issued by the organizers so accredited athletes and media men can enter China without a formal visa.

Their cards, however, were returned to the organizers since the team would have 14, instead of 12 players in violation of the rules, if they continued to wear their identification cards.

Without a visa and accreditation cards, the two cannot leave China.