Phl track stars show stuff in Thai Open

MANILA, Philippines - Pole vaulter Riezel Buenaventura heads a crack four-man athletic delegation vying against the best in the region in the Thailand Open Track and Field Championships which gets under way May 6 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Buenaventura, a bronze medalist in the last SEA Games in Myanmar, will be joined in the team by javelin thrower Evalyn Palabrica, high jumper Manuel Lasagne Jr. and long jumper Julian Fuentes in the four-day event featuring the region’s leading and rising tracksters.

Buenaventura and Palabrica ruled their respective events in last year’s staging of the Thailand Open while Fuentes took a silver medal as they led the country’s 10-gold, 10-silver and nine-bronze haul in the event.

Coach Rosalyn Hamero will head the delegation with Cebu Pacific backing the country’s participation with its Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday Bangkok flight schedules.

Cebu Pacific, the country’s No. 1 budget airline, is sponsoring the team’s campaign as part of its corporate social responsibility in support of the Philippine athletes’ bid for medals in various international competitions.

Track and Field Association vice chairman Philip Ella Juico, a former chair of the Philippine Sports Commission, is also supporting the team’s participation in the event which will feature 22 events and top athletes from Kuwait, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Chinese Taipei and Myanmar.