Obiena Finishes Second To Last In Germany Tourney

Obiena Finishes Second To Last In Germany Tourney

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Philippines' Ernest John Obiena competes in the men's pole vault final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on August 3, 2021.

BEN STANSALL / AFP

MANILA, Philippines — The road back to glory for two-time Olympian EJ Obiena won’t be easy.

The Filipino World No. 4 and Asian champion and record-holder realized it over the weekend when he ran into trouble and finished second to last in the ISTAF Indoor in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Unlike in his first two tilts this year where he appeared in cruise control with the silver in Cottbus, Germany two weeks ago and a gold in Metz, France just the day before, Obiena looked like he banged into a wall in Dusseldorf.

There, he managed just 5.55 meters, which was only good enough for seventh out of eight participants here.

German Torben Blech took the gold with a 5.80m clearance, while American Sam Kendricks and Turk Ersu Sasma bagged the silver and bronze, respectively, with identical 5.70s.

It was below the 5.70m Obiena set in Metz and 5.65m in Cottbus.

But expect Obiena to bounce back from it just as he almost always did in the past as he aims to reclaim his place back at world No. 2 after sputtering to No. 4 in December last year.

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