4 archers in semis; Jasmin falls

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Four Filipino archers stayed on course for the Philippines’ gold medal hunt, advancing to the medal round in archery to make up for the debacle of top gold medal prospect, Athens Olympian Jasmin Figueroa who absorbed a heart-breaking loss to her Indonesian rival on the fifth day of archery competitions of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games at the football field here.

Recurve campaigners Rachelle Ann Cabral and Marvin Cordero and compound bow specialists Jennifer Chan and Amaya Paz crushed to victories to make it to the medal round, saving the day for the Philippine team after Figueroa, Carlos Carag and Earl Yap all bowed out of contention.

Figueroa led defending champion Rina Dewi Puspita of Indonesia early in the 70-meter women’s recurve but lost her bearings down the stretch, losing in the last three arrows. Thus, Puspita avenged her setback to Figuroa in the 2003 Vietnam SEA Games.

Figueroa’s coach, Henry Manalang said the pressure was just too much for his ward. "Jasmin had a lot to bear these past few days. She was really pressured to a point that she was in tears," he said.

After Carag and Yap followed suit, the quartet of Cabral, Paz, Chan and Cordero posted stirring triumphs, with Carag downing Anabarasi Subramanian of Malaysia, 104-99, in the 70-m individual recurve. Chan downed Nabisar Tinbua of Thailand, 108-105, while Paz edged out Lilies Heliarti of Indonesia in a shoot-off, 8-7, in both the 70-m Olympic women’s compound.

Paz and her Indonesial foe wound up in a 96-all deadlock after 12 arrows but the Filipina showed sterner stuff in the shoot-off to prevail.

Cordero, the last man standing after the twin defeats of Carag and Yap, pulled off a man-sized upset by beating reigning champion Muhammad Mardawi Sulaiman of Malaysia, 107-105, in the 70-m men’s individual recurve.

Cabral will next face Pasmidar Hamid of Indonesia while Paz collides with Tin Zin Ei of Myanmar as hostilities resume today in the medal round. — Manny Galvez/Bebot Sison