Archers train sights on first SEAG gold

Members of the Philippine archery team shoot for what could be the country’s first gold – or first disaster – of the 22nd Southeast Asian Games as archery action starts Monday, four days before the opening ceremonies, at the archery field in Hanoi.

Veterans Jennifer Chan, Joan Chan Tabanag and Rachelle Cabral loom as the country’s best bets in the women’s division while men archers Marvin Cordero, Christian Cubilla, Florante Matan and Arnold Rojas hope to advance to the medal round of the five-day individual and team events.

But the dipping temperature, which organizing officials predicted would fall farther to 4 degrees centigrade in December, and lack of practice on the competition venue could impair the chances of the RP team whose appeal to leave for Hanoi earlier was turned down by the POC/PSC task force.

The team, along with national coach Harry Manalang and team official Ligaya Manalang, is leaving today for North Vietnam with hardly a day to do practice rounds at the outdoor arena.

The Hanoi organizers had moved the start of competition from Dec. 4 to Dec. 1, forcing the National Archery Association of the Philippines to request for the team’s departure on Nov. 26.

The task force gave no reason for rejecting the request except saying that there was no word from the organizers that they would be afforded earlier practice rounds if they arrived there on Nov. 26.

Hoping to get an earlier booking, the archery team packed its training and competition equipment three days ago.

"We could no longer unpack the equipment so they could continue training before Nov. 30, and that’s two or three days of idle time for the archers," said Manalang.

Manalang also expressed concern over the sudden change of climate the archers have to adjust to with only one day to prepare before the start of competitions.

"The organizers had informed us we had to anticipate cold, windy conditions, so I had to buy my archers some thermal wear, but there’s still the problem of acclimatizing within 24 hours after our arrival in Hanoi," said Manalang.

Manalang will also miss the team managers’ meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday while the archers won’t be touching their bows and arrows until Sunday during the morning and afternoon practice rounds for all participating countries.

Competitors, including those from powerhouse Indonesia and Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Brunei, will go through a two-day elimination phase Monday and Tuesday to determine the participants in the Round of 16 in both men’s and women’s competitions.

The Round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals of the women’s event will be held Wednesday, while those in the men’s side will be held Thursday.

The team competitions start and end on Friday before the opening ceremonies of the Games.

Two gold medals are at stake in the men’s and women’s individual events and two in the team competitions.