MANILA — EJ Obiena flexed his might yet again as the 2024 Paris Olympic Games nears.

This, after the Filipino pole vault star clinched back-to-back wins in Poland’s Memorial Czeslawa Cybulskiego, late Sunday, Manila time.

The 6-foot-2 Olympian tallied a meet and stadium record of 5.87m in Poznan to get the gold, just two days after his 5.97m first-place finish in Bydgoszcz.

“Back-to-back competitions in Poland were definitely a blast,” said Obiena in a social media post earlier Monday.

“5.87m here in Memorial Cybulskiego for the gold with a bonus meeting and stadium record. Thank you, Poznan for the great time,” he added.

Meanwhile, finishing next to him was Polish ace and home bet Piotr Lisek who cleared 5.82m, and settling for bronze was Saudi Arabia’s Hussain Al-Hizam who finished at 5.62.

Dwight Ramos ready to take on point guard duties for short-handed Gilas in FIBA OQT

Dwight Ramos in action for Gilas Pilipinas in a friendly game against the Taiwan Mustangs at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig, June 24, 2024. Photo by Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA — Dwight Ramos will finally get to suit up for Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA Olympic Qualifiers.

The 6-foot-4 fan-favorite guard previously missed the 2021 edition of the Tokyo OQT due to an injury, but now that he’s all good to represent the country in the 2024 qualifiers, Ramos said that he is up to the challenge of getting Gilas a chance to get into the Paris Olympics.

“Anytime I can play for Gilas, it’s already an honor for me,” he said after their win against the Taiwan Mustangs on Monday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

“So Asia Cup Qualifiers, World Cup Qualifiers, Olympic Qualifiers, I try to play in everything,” continued Ramos who fired 19 points alongside four steals and three rebounds.

Unfortunately, however, they will be shorthanded when they go up against Latvia and Georgia as they are without Scottie Thompson who is dealing with a back injury.

And this, Ramos admitted, will be a tall order especially since the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel star serves as the lead guard of the Tim Cone-mentored squad.

“We are trying to pick up his place, but those are big shoes to fill.”

Fortunately for the Nationals, the Levanga Hokkaido ace is prepared to take the reins of the Gilas’ ball-handling responsibilities.

“A couple of years ago with Coach Tab [Baldwin], he’s prepared me for this role, so I just kept on working on it,” said the 25-year-old, who served as Baldwin’s point guard during the 2021 edition of the Asia Cup Qualifiers.

“I now have the chance to do that, so I just got to do my best,” he continued, while also explaining how he would approach the floor general duties.

“I’ll get there. It’s not like I’ll keep the ball all the time. As long as I keep on passing the ball and move the ball around, that’s the role of a point guard moving,” he bared.

Aside from this, Ramos also shared how optimistic they are of their chances despite the squad only bringing 11 players to the OQT, as emphasized by Cone.

“Serbia was a really tough team, and we were close,” said Dwight, pertaining to their 83-76 defeat against the Serbs in 2021.

This [present] team has a lot more experience and is bigger, so obviously, we have a good chance. I’m excited to play those two games.”

“You only need five players on the court, so reasonable enough,” he continued.

For now, Ramos emphasized that their focus is their pair of friendlies against Turkey and Poland.

“I think that the next two tuneup games are against really good National Teams. It’s gonna be a bigger test for us,” said Ramos.

“I’m sure that our coaches will definitely get us ready. Whatever plays they come up with is gonna be the best for us so we are just gonna roll with it,” he ended.