With this weekend’s Bali Ultra in Indonesia we have already arrived at the penultimate weekend of this season’s qualifying period for our Asia Trail Master Championship Final at Borneo TMBT Ultra on 14 September. After Bali 80 and Bali 50 on Saturday, runners can only still score ranking points at Akha Trail in Thailand and The Punisher in Philippines. That means it’s crunch time for those keen to get a spot in their team for the ATM Final. Angelie Cabalo is among those, and no surprise she is lining up for the 80km this weekend. Cabalo was 3rd in last year’s Championship Final in Indonesia, and so has great memories of her last running visit here. On paper, the Bali 80 course, quite runable but with some pretty technical sections in it, should be ideal for the Filipino. Besides, contrary to last year, participants in this event are once again permitted to climb and descend Gunung Batur. Political disagreements have been solved, and so the famous ‘sunrise’ mountain is back on the course. For Cabalo, the 500 points for victory would be highly welcome. At present, she has only one result on her record this season and with so many ambitious Filipino runners in the mix, it will not be easy to still get a spot in the Top 5 of the women’s ATM ranking for her country. In any case, after Bali, she would also need to compete at The Punisher next week. It would certainly be a pity if Angelie Cabalo fails to qualify this season, as the TMBT course should suit her just as well in what promises to be quite an open women’s championship title race.

The men’s 80km will see the return of last year’s winner Rachmat Septiyanto and Japan’s Yuta Matsuyama. The latter probably has a higher pedigree, but often Matsuyama struggles with heat and humidity. Let’s see if this Saturday will be different. Also Dedy Yusuf will be a contender.

But arguably the 50k race will capture most attention this weekend, with Indonesian star Risqi Kurniawan scheduled to face off against 2018 ATM Champion. Alessandro Sherpa. Last time they met was at last year’s ATM Final on Gunung Lawu. Risqi had tried to follow eventual winner John Ray Onifa early on, but blew up and when Sherpa caught him a bit later he threw in the towel all together. Since that wake-up call, having realised that dominating all Indonesian races doesn’t mean you can do the same on an international competitive level, Risqi rehabilitated himself in February at The 9 Dragons 50km in Hong Kong, taking third place. An injury stopped him in his tracks for several weeks afterwards, but in Mantra 68 he proved to be back with another win ahead of Hilman Maulana and Akhmad Nizar. The latter will also be racing at Bali 50 and is always a dangerman for the podium. Alessandro Sherpa spent nearly four months back in Italy, but has now returned with a view to the ATM Final. Having finished third and second in the past two years, Sherpa really wants to try and get that second ATM Championship title this season, six years after his first - time flies. More podium contenders could be Yoyong Sacayle, provided he recovered from last week’s KAR Ultra, and Luis Alvelais. As always in Bali Ultra, there is very international start field and it is not excluded we get to see some unknown runners appearing at the front.

No longer unknown, however, is France’s Aurore Dacier - based in Singapore and winner of Lantau 70 in March, and MMTF 50 before that. Dacier has the competitive spirit and will be the top favourite on the 50km for women this Saturday. That would technically qualify her for the ATM Championship Final as well, but Aurore has already stated that she cannot make it this season. Yustina Wardhani is one of the local Indonesian runners who could think of a podium finish.

ATM will be reporting live from Bali Ultra from start to finish on ATM Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

Bali Ultra: Sherpa returns and meets Risqi in the 50k!