MANILA – Bacolod City native Bernalyn Bejoy emerged as the brightest performer for the Philippine athletics team by securing two silver medals in the XXXIV Qosanov Memorial in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The 23-year-old Bejoy delivered a strong showing in the women’s 800 meters, clocking 2:12.27 to narrowly finish behind Uzbekistan’s Irina Levina, who claimed gold with a time of 2:12.07.
Bejoy then teamed up with Kharis Pantonial, Susan Ramadan, and Hussein Loraña to a bronze medal finish in the mixed 4×400-meter relay. The quartet crossed the line in 3 minutes and 29.92 seconds, securing the team’s only bronze of the meet.
Adding to the medal haul, Loraña also earned an individual silver in the men’s 800 meters with a time of 1:52.69, trailing Iran’s Ali Amirian (1:52.09) while holding off Kazakhstan’s Nikita Izotov (1:53.97).
Veteran long jumper Janry Ubas opened the country’s medal account with a silver in the men’s long jump. He leapt 7.53 meters to finish behind India’s Murali Sreeshankar, who won gold with a 7.94-meter jump.
Clinton Bautista came close to adding another medal but narrowly missed the podium in the men’s 100-meter hurdles, placing fourth with a time of 14.38 seconds. Kazakhstan’s David Yefremov took gold in 13.99 seconds.
Other Filipino athletes also competed, including Ronnie Malipay (6th, men’s triple jump), Anfernee Lopena (6th, men’s 100m), Kharis Pantonial (4th, men’s 400m Final 2), and Susan Ramadan (5th, women’s 1,500m)./PN
