Aussies loom as top bets in Powerman

Australians Thomas Bruins and Matt Smith hope to flaunt their worldclass form as they banner the crack international field in the 2017 Powerman Philippines Asian Championship Presented by Summit Drinking Water firing off Sunday at Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga.

Bruins and Smith loom as the duathletes to beat in the centerpiece Elite category with the former, No. 2 in the Powerman world ranking, coming off a victory in the Powerman Asia Duathlon Championships in Malaysia.

Bruins is also out to improve on his runner-up finish to Frenchman Gael Le Bellec in last year’s edition of the event also held to showcase the local bets’ potential to be among the world’s top duathletes.

Smith is ranked No. 9 in the world, and is tipped to crowd Bruins for top honors in the premier run-bike-run event organized by F&F International Events Group along with Malaysians Ziq Junaidy and Jason Loh, who placed fifth in Powerman Malaysia and ranked No. 11 in the world.

Local ace Monica Torres, on the other hand, sets out as one of the top favorites in the women’s side of the Elite division after finishing third last year with Alexandra McDougall and Japanese Airi Sawada, who placed fourth and fifth, respectively, expected to provide the challenge.

But Sawada is coming into the event brimming with confidence following a victory in Indonesia that improved her world ranking to No. 3 with McDougall at No. 6.