MIEL Pahati, the country’s top male wall climber, will be competing in the IFSC world climbing championships in Arco, Italy as part of his preparations in the 26th Indonesia Southeast Asian Games in November.
“I will be competing in three events at the worlds and I hope to at least reach the finals of one of them,’ said the 29-year-old Pahati in yesterday’s PSA forum at the UN Avenue branch in Manila.
Pahati and fellow national bet and female climber Ina Flores captured the gold medals in the recent POC-PSC National Games and will spearhead the country’s drive when the sport makes its debut in the SEA Games in the South Sumatran capital of Palembang.
Joining Pahati in the session sponsored by Pagcor, Outlast Battery, Smart and Shakey’s was Mountain Hard Wear brand manager Manny Batungbacal, whose company will supply the gear for the national wall climbers in the SEA Games.
Pahati, who has been competing in the sport since he was 20, said he will vie in the speed climbing, 60-meter climb and bouldering the Arco competitions, which basically will be the same events in Indonesia.
He has a personal best of 15 seconds in the 50-meter speed contest, which he said ranks him among the top in Southeast Asia, an event where he captured the gold in the Southeast Asian wallclimbing circuit in 2009.
On the other hand, Batungbacal, a former mountain climber himself, said chances of the national bets garnering honors in the Indonesia Games are bright “considering the preparations they have been undergoing over the past six months.”
Both Batungbacal and Pahati said that aside from the Indon hosts, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia loom as the Filipinos’ challengers for the gold.
“We know it won’t be easy in Indonesia but with the training these wall climbers have undergone we stand a good chance of bringing home the gold when the sport makes its maiden appearance in Indonesia,” Batungbacal said.(PSA PR)
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