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Sports climber John Forones at the 6th Asian Beach Games. POC Media

Sports climber John Forones at the 6th Asian Beach Games.

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Asian Beach Games

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1777450660818John Forones 4.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Sports climber John Forones at the 6th Asian Beach Games. POC Media" width="960"/>Sports climber John Forones at the 6th Asian Beach Games. POC Media</div>MANILA -- Sports climber John Forones and coach John Aquino are confident that the national team can only get better after the former broke a Philippine record in the discipline at the 6th Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China. Forones clocked 6.08 seconds in the men&#x27;s individual qualifying round, breaking the record of 7.5 seconds set by his teammate, Juan Miguel Azupardo, in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games last December in Thailand.He placed 28th overall in qualifying.&quot;I definitely worked hard for it. Same with my teammates. I think climbing as a whole, speed climbing in particular, since it&#x27;s my initial sport, it&#x27;s up for me here (to do my best). It doesn&#x27;t get any light in the Philippines,&quot; Forones said after winding up his stint along with Azupardo in the men&#x27;s relay qualification Wednesday at the Tianya Haijiao Venue Cluster. &quot;I&#x27;m excited for the future and what I can bring to the country.&quot;Forones and Azupardo clocked 15.47 seconds in the relay and ended in 17th place.The 19-year-old De La Salle University student only joined the national team last year with wall climbing getting his fancy unexpectedly.&quot;I had ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) when I was a child like when I was eight years old so I had to take therapy. So, one day, we were walking at the SM By The Bay and there was a wall climbing event,&quot; Forones recalled. &quot;We got intrigued and inquired about if there&#x27;s a similar event in Cavite where we were living at that time. That&#x27;s where it started. I had a knack for it.&quot;For speed climbing, I only got to the national team last year because speed climbing was only introduced last year in the Philippines.&quot;Coach Aquino gave his wards a passing mark in the Sanya ABG.&quot;We saw their hard work. We had three boot camps in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand,&quot; Aquino said. &quot;We were able to put up our own speed wall through the support of the PCI (Pilipinas Climbing) and the POC, and we were able to break a national record.&quot;<div> </div><div>WRESTLERS FALL SHORT</div>Meanwhile, the Philippine wrestling team was unable to adapt to the sands as six bets missed out on medals at the Sanya Bay Yuhai Club on Tuesday.Despite some rare bright spots with group stage wins courtesy of Abby Balisme and Joe Fer Callado in the women&#x27;s 60kg and men&#x27;s 70kg, respectively, it wasn&#x27;t enough to secure a spot in the quarterfinals.Other bets -- Aliah Gavalez, Fierre Afan, Neonards Cervantes, and Callum Roberts -- were unable to eke out any victories in this seaport city, where they admitted that it was a new experience for the Philippine team.&quot;Really, it&#x27;s a great experience for each and every one of us. The exposure of not just the sport, but the individual athletes. It&#x27;s great overall,&quot; Roberts said.With the Asian Beach Games hosting headed for Cebu in 2028, the Philippine wrestlers hope for a better performance.&quot;I&#x27;m excited. We&#x27;re going to be building off this competition. Stuff that we get wrong, stuff that we get right. Building up from there,&quot; Roberts said. &quot;Hopefully, we take on more medals next Beach Games.&quot;The Philippines&#x27; campaign in Sanya is supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham &quot;Bambol&quot; Tolentino and Philippine Sports Commission chairman Patrick &quot;Pato&quot; Gregorio.

Sports climber John Forones and coach John Aquino are confident that the national team can only get better after the former broke a Philippine record in the discipline at the 6th Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China.

Sports climber John Forones and coach John Aquino are confident that the national team can only get better after the former broke a Philippine record in the discipline at the 6th Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China.

John Forones breaks PH sport climbing record in Asian Beach Games

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John Forones breaks PH sport climbing record in Asian Beach Games

ABS-CBN News

Published April 29, 2026 04:18 PM PHT

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Asian Beach Games

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