Long jumper Marestella Torres-Sunang falls short

SENIOR BET. Marestella Torres-Sunang yields to a younger field. Photo by Adrian Portugal/Rappler

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Marestella Torres-Sunang leapt to a ninth-place finish in what could be her last Asian Games.

Sunang, who for the longest time remained unbeatable in long jump in the Philippines, forced her 37-year-old legs to a 6.15-meter distance which was only good for ninth place in the 11-woman final of the event on Monday night, August 27, at the Gelora Bung Karko Main Stadium.

All her rivals were at least nine years her junior with Vietnam’s Thiu Thu Tao Bui, 26, winning the gold with a leap of 6.55m.

India’s Neena Varakil, 28, took the silver with 6.51 and China’s Xu Xiaoling, also 26, settled for bronze with 6.50.

The Olympian Torres-Sunang was far off her personal best of 6.72m, which she recorded in the 2016 Kazakhstan Open. – Rappler.com