Tac earns 16th Southeast Asian Games stint

MANILA, Philippines - National champion Nathaniel “Tac” Padilla surpassed the gold-medal performance of Thailand’s Ruengpanyawut Opas recently to become the first shooter to qualify for the Philippine team to the Laos Southeast Asian Games this year.

The 44-year-old Padilla earned his 16th SEAG stint by scoring 572 points in the rapid fire pistol event during the monthly qualifying competitions at the PSC/Marines range in Taguig City.

Tac’s output was one point shy of the national mark he established in last year’s tournament organized by the Philippine National Shooting Association headed by Arturo Macapagal.

“I can’t believe that I’d already be competing for the 16th time in the SEAG,” said Padilla, general manager of family-owned Spring Cooking Oil. “I was only 14 when I began participating in (the biennial Games) way back in 1977.”

Padilla beat Robert Donalvo by 32 points and his brother Donald by 34.

Carolino Gonzales, Ruth Ricardo and Edwin Fernandez topped the men’s air pistol, women’s air pistol and men’s 50-meter rifle (prone) events, respectively, but they all failed to hurdle the silver medal criteria of the last SEAG jointly set by the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Sports Commission.

Gonzales carded 569 to beat Ronald Hejastro (558) and Romulo Tilos (555), Ricardo tallied 360 to nip Alyanna Chuatoco (359) and Shanin Gonzales (358), and Fernandez submitted 585 to edge Eddie Tomas (583) and Dennis Hernandez (575).

The silver-medal scores in the last SEAG were 575 (by Thailand’s Jakkrit Panichpatikum) in men’s air pistol, 381 (Thailand’s Prucksakorn Tanyaporn) in women’s air pistol and 588 (Myanmar’s Lin Aung) in men’s 50-meter rifle (prone).

Padilla is set to compete in two other pistol events - standard and center fire.