Monica Torres shines in Putrajaya duathlon

MANILA, Philippines — Monica Torres put on a solid performance in the Powerman Asia Duathlon Championships by topping the Asian women’s elite category last Sunday in Dataran Putrajaya in Malaysia.

Torres, 30, gearing up for the 30th SEA Games in Subic in November, finished a strong second to three-time winner Anna Eberhardt-Halasz of Hungary in the race that consisted of a 10K run, 60K bike and 10K run.

The Filipina entry emerged champion in the Asian women’s elite class with her time of three hours, two minutes,three seconds. She was two minutes behind the 37-year-old Hugarian (3:00:02).

Australia’s Shannon Chapman came in third in 3:05:47 followed by Irene Coletio of Italy in 3:11:38. The next best Asian in the field, Airi Sawada, came in next in 3:15:17, far behind the Pinay entry.

“I’m very happy with my performance,” said Torres, the fastest Filipina in the Cobra Ironman 70.3 for the past six years, and a mainstay of the Standard Insurance team.

John Chicano, a silver medalist in men’s triathlon of the 2017 SEA Games, finished third in the men’s elite with a time of 2:43:26 behind Antony Costes of France (2:41:23) and Thomas Bruins of the Netherlands (2:42:04).

Joey delos Reyes, another Filipino, who is Torres’ teammate with Standard Insurance, was sixth overall in 2:48:30. Chicano and Delos Reyes came in 1-2 among Asians.

The Philippines’ Emmanuel Comendador checked in fourth and Jarwin Banatao sixth in the Asian Men Elite with times of 2:48:30 and 2:51:57. Wai Kit Lam of Singapore was the second best Asian in 2:52:11.

The Powerman event is the biggest duathlon brand in the world.

Jelsie Sabado (3:26:26) and Mirasol Abad (3:30:55) finished seventh and ninth in the women’s elite.