Torres shows stuff in Singapore

MANILA, Philippines - As if to prove she deserved a spot in the Asian Games, Olympian Marestella Torres leapt 6.45 meters to handily win the women’s long jump in the 76th Singapore Open Track and Field Championships at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium in Singapore over the weekend.

Torres, 33, warmed up with initial leaps of 5.83m, 6.19m, 6.18m, and 6.34 before dishing out her best on her sixth try en route to snaring the plum over eight other rivals led by runner-up Noor Amira Nafiah of Malaysia (6.14m).

“This puts Marestella as the No. 1 jumper in Southeast Asia and one of the top jumpers in Asia,” said Jim Lafferty, sponsor and coach of Torres in the “Adopt an Olympian” program.

Torres continues to regain her top form since giving birth early this year and returning from a long layoff. She resumed competitive jumping only last May, leaping 6.14m in her first tournament in Hong Kong, and repeating the mark while recovering from UTI in a Vietnam trip.

She was subjected to trials for the Asiad contingent last Aug. 9 but fell short of the 6.37m mark set by the Philippine Olympic Committee-Philippine Sports Commission Asiad task force with her 6.14m effort.

Lafferty stressed Torres deserves to compete in Incheon.

“She’s coming off pregnancy, we got to give her some slack. But she’s improved a lot since the pregnancy and she still got room to go,” Lafferty said.

He said under their training program, Torres is being primed to leap over 6.50 meters, which is likely to be good for a podium finish in the Asiad.

“If you look at previous Asian Games, 6.50 to 6.52m always wins, so that’s always our target. With five more weeks, she can achieve it,”he said.

Torres’ gold was duplicated by Eric Shawn Cray and Christopher Ulboc in the men’s steeplechase and men’s 400m hurdles, respectively.

Cray clocked 51.60 seconds to beat Malaysians Muhammad Fir Musa (53.85) and Muhammad Mazalan (54.12). For his part, Ulboc timed in at a winning 9:16.51 for the plum over Ahmed Lut Hamizan (9:34.22) and Parajuli Nabin (10:07.98).

Team Philippines won a silver in men’s 4x400m relay, submitting 3:11.67 for second-best against champion Korea A (3:06.89). Hong Kong took the bronze (3:16.62).

Henry Dagmi placed third in men’s long jump with his 7.56m effort. Kuwait’s Saleh Ahaddad copped the diadem (7.72m) while Sri Lanka’s DAGJP Wimalas was second (7.67m).