Pinoy Shooters target Olympic medal
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 07 Mar 2012
The Philippines may yet end its decades-old medal-less campaign in the Olympic Games.
This was boldly predicted by Philippine National Shooting Association president Mikee Romero in yesterday?s PSA Forum at Shakey?s Pizza along U.N. Avenue.
?You?ll never know. The much-coveted first gold medal for the country may even come from us,? said the youthful shooting president, who graced yesterday?s Forum.
Only once did the Philippines enjoy a chance for a medal since first seeing action in the quadrennial meet and that was in 1948 when military man Martin Gison involved in a multiple tie for the second to seventh positions only to settle for fourth following a countback.
Romero was joined by three of the four shooters hoping to get the slot awarded to the Philippines by the International Olympic Committee and the International Sport Shooting Federation.
They are Paul Brian Rosario (shotgun skeet), Jason Valdez (air rifle) and the seasoned Tac Padilla (rapid fire pistol). The other hopeful, Hagen Topacio (shotgun trap) failed to grace the forum.
Romero said these four shooters earned their minimum qualifying scores (MQS) in various competitions heading to the London Games set July 27 to Aug. 12 but failed to make it outright.
But through the help of Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco, former PNSA chief Art Macapagal and ISSF vice president Sheik Salman Al Sabah, the Philippines earned a wild card.
The PNSA submitted the names of the four shooters to the IOC which will decide whom to award the slot. The decision, Romero said, should come in the next 30 days.
?The IOC has eight shooting wild cards for London, and we were lucky to be given one. It?s their call now whether the one they would give us would come from rifle, shotgun or air pistol,? said Romero.
But Romero is confident that whoever is chosen among the four, whether it?s the 48-year-old Padilla or the 16-year-old Valdez, the Philippines may just pull off a surprise.
Romero said the 29-year-old Del Rosario shot 120 over 125 points in his event during the last World Cup in Belgrade when in the 2008 Beijing Olympics the gold was won with 121 points.
?He is shooting very well. But it?s really up to the IOC,? said Romero, also joined in the forum by PNSA executive director Atty. Hilario Paredes and secretary general Col. Danilo Gamboa.
In the 2004 Athens Olympics, Jethro Dionisio was the lone Filipino representative while four years later in Beijing it was Eric Ang who carried the fight for the country.
Gamboa, 73, a perennial member of the Philippine team to the SEA Games during his prime, said the best finish ever by a Filipino shooter in the Olympics was fifth ? courtesy of Col. Martin Hizon during the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
?So, whoever is chosen should be ready. And we will make sure he gets all the support. He has to be ready,? added Romero, who will attend the World Shoot Congress in the United Kingdom on April 17.
?Hopefully by then we will know who our entry to the London Olympics will be,? he said.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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