Archery bets lose aim in Olympic elims

THE BRONX, New York– Raul Ramon Arambulo ran 53rd of 107 entries and emerged the best placed Filipino so far in the 42nd World Archery Champpionships.

After two events, the 90 and 70 meters, in the men’s compound division, Arambulo, 42, made 651 points, hitting 312 in the 90 meters, which ranked 68th, and gaining ground by scoring 339 in the 70 meters which was good for 28th, well within the top 64 that will advance to the championship round, which is a one-on-one, knockout phase.

Two more distances, the 50 and 30, will be played Wednesday to determine the qualifiers.

University of Makati freshman Rachelle Anne Cabral, 18, kept her chances of making the Olympics by running 73rd of 137 participants in the women’s recurve division. Olympic slots are at stake here only in the recurve division.

Cabral, however, will have to double her efforts to make the championship round. On Tuesday she shot 298 in the 70 meters (84th) and 320 in the 60 meters (60th).

Lagging behind but not losing her fighting spirit was Cabral’s classmate, Jasmin Figueroa, who stood at 100th place with 594. The veteran Joann Tabanag, who was briefly hospitalized the day before because of a bad stomach, was at 105th with 590.

The men’s recurve team will also need a big day to make it. Arnold Rojas ranked 83rd of 173 archers with 606, Florante Matan stood at 118th with 588, Marvin Cordero placed 119th with 585 and Christian Cubilla ran 130th with 576.

Carlos Carag, competing in the same division with Arambulo, was at 88th place with 626. Manuel Martinez was at 92nd with 619, while Clint Sayo, a former recurve archer who retired and then returned recently as a compound archer, was at 101st with 604.

Koreans led the two classes in the recurve division, with Jang Yong Ho hitting 673 in the men’s 90 and 70 meters and Park Sung Hyun making 688 in the women’s 70 and 60 meters. American Mary Zorn paced the women’s compound with 698, while Australian Clint Freeman led the men’s compound with 685.

"Kailangan makabawi bukas. Kaya naman nila, ‘wag lang kabahan," said national coach Henry Manalang.

Arambulo is way past being nervous. He was a member of the national skeet team from 1990 to 1999, before becoming a full-pledged compound archer after placing third in the 2000 National Open.

"The sport just fascinated me. My dad bought me guns, thinking it was safer because I could only use those in the range, as opposed to the bow and arrow, which he thought I would use anywhere," said Arambulo, a Philippine Sportswriters Association awardee last year and a realtor by profession.

Arambulo’s last medal as a shooter came when the national skeet team won silver in the 1999 Brunei Southeast Asian Games. Arambulo knows he faces long odds to earn a medal here, but he feels his big moment will come some day soon in the sport he has belatedly learned to appreciate.