‘Bulls-Aya’ wins it over Chan in last arrow

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — Amaya Paz pulled off a thriller of an upset by beating veteran compatriot Jennifer Chan, bagging the gold medal in the all-Pinoy women’s final of the compound category of the archery competitions iin the 23rd Southeast Asian Games at the Remy Football Field here yesterday afternoon.

The bespectacled Paz, clearly the crowd favorite but a heavy underdog, showed nerves of steel in a down-to-the-wire showdown with Chan, pulling off a perfect 10 in the 12th and final arrow to win, 116-114 over the more seasoned Chan.

The match was described as a "match helped by heaven" by Paz’s father J.P. as a barrage of perfect 10s rained with Chan and Paz, ranked 37th and 39th in the world, battling each other shot for shot, bullseye for bullseye.

It all boiled down to the last arrow in the fourth end when Chan uncharacteristically lowered her aim and posted a score of 8.

The 20-year-old Paz, a psychology student from the University of the Philippines, set the tone for the match by scoring two perfect 10s in the first end, sandwiched by a 9 while Chan submitted two 9s sandwiched by a 10 for a 29-28 lead in Paz’s favor.

Both posted two 10s in the second end but Paz emerged with a higher score to up her lead to 58-56.

Chan then posted an incredible seven consecutive 10s bridging the second, third and fourth ends but Paz more than held her own by registering five 10s herself, including the game-clinching shot for 116-114 victory.

Asked what she felt with Chan’s torrid seven 10s, Paz said she only concentrated on her target.

"Anyway, it’s all right whoever wins for as long as the Philippines will get the gold," a visibly excited Paz said.

"Super thanks for your support," she said.

The duo even swapped high fives as the crowd roared in approval with fans unfurling a streamer emblazoned with the words "Bulls-Aya."

"It could have gone either way," said Amaya’s father, , adding that his daughter was not playing well early in the morning and the day before.

Paz, who turned 20 last Nov. 12 and started her archery career only six years ago after competing in the butterfly category in swimming in grade school, thanked her parents for the victory, recalling that it was her father who convinced her to try archery.

Chan, who went home with the silver, credited Paz for her brilliant showing. "So far, it was the best match I had with her.

"When I took aim, my bow lowered," she said, in explaining her paltry 8 in the 12th and final arrow.

Paz and Chan arranged an all-Pinoy showdown by beating Tin Zin Ei of Myanmar and Gul Maryanne of Singapore, respectively, in the semifinal pairings for the women’s compound in the morning.

Lost in the din of Paz’s conquest of the gold were Rachelle Anne Cabral and Marvin Cordero who both salvaged a bronze in the women’s recurve over Novia Nuraini of Indonesia (101-98) and Cordero over Mohd Kaharuddin Brin Asah of Malaysia, respectively. — With report from Bebot Sison