Pinoy shooters go off-target again

The national shooters struggled once again, only this time no one stepped up to save the day for Team Philippines, which suffered a medal shutout in Day 3 of shooting competitions of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games at the Fort Bonifacio Shooting Range in Taguig.

Rifle bet Edwin Fernandez held his ground in the final round of the men’s 50m rifle prone but still failed to overcome the Vietnam’s lead.

Nguyen Tan Nam of Vietnam won the gold with 699.4 points, beating Thailand’s Zuphakorn Wisetchai (694.3-silver) and Myanmar’s Khin Maung Htoo (691.3-bronze).

National mainstay Eddie Tomas failed to qualify, scoring only 581 points in the qualifying round to finish 10th in the 12-man field.

On the distaff side, veteran shooter Susan Aguado, who missed the finals in the women’s 25m pistol on Tuesday, also failed to land a spot in the finals of the 10m air pistol, finishing the qualifying round at 10th place with 370 points.

Indonesia’s Bary Agustini Said took the gold with 480 while Thailand’s Panchang Chisa-Ard pooled 472.9 for silver and Myanmar’s Khin Soe Thaike copped the bronze with 471.5 points.

On Tuesday, Juanito Angeles and Ariel Santos scored a 1-2 finish in practical shotgun automatic event while veteran Eric Ang bagged the bronze medal in the men’s individual trap that more than made up for the losses of Carolino Gonzales and Richard Gomez.