Archers gird for action

The individual events in archery are scheduled today at the 25th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Laos with Earl Benjamin Yap, Rosendo Sombrio and Fermin Barranachea competing in the men’s compound, Jennifer Chan and Abigail Tindugan in the women’s compound and Beijing Olympian Mark Javier in the recurve.

In the team events tomorrow, the only Philippine entry is in the men’s compound with Yap, Sombrio and Barranachea combining forces.

At the SEA Games in Thailand two years ago, the Philippines bagged two golds in archery – from Amaya Paz in the women’s individual compound and the women’s team compound with Paz, Chan and Tindugan. Yap brought home a silver in the men’s individual compound and the men’s team claimed a bronze in recurve.

National archer Kit Cojuangco, who begged off from qualifying with Paz to recover from their ordeal wrought by typhoon Ondoy last September, said Yap’s main obstacle is Indonesian Igusti Nyoman Puruhito who won the gold in the men’s individual compound at the last SEA Games. Puruhito is also the Asian champion.

Cojuangco also mentioned that Javier’s chief rival in the individual recurve is Malaysia ‘s Cheng Chu Sian.

“It won’t be easy winning the gold because Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia are competing with their best archers,” said Cojuangco. “But all our archers are competitive. Mark, for instance, just set a new Philippine record in recurve. Even if we’re competing with a depleted lineup, I think we’ll be in serious contention for gold.”

Although the Philippines is entered in only four of the eight archery events in Laos, Paz said she’s optimistic of a solid showing. “They can do it,” she said. “They’re very capable.” 

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Compound and recurve refer to the two bows that are used in archery competitions. In the Olympics, only the recurve bow – whose limbs curve away from the shooter – is allowed. It is more difficult to master than the high-tech compound version. The force required to pull a recurve bow, made of aluminium and fiberglass, increases directly with the distance pulled. An arrow shot from a recurve could travel up to 150 miles an hour.

The compound bow is an amalgamation of cams and cables to make the holding weight less than half of the draw weight. The carbon fiber bow lends itself to greater accuracy, a flatter arrow trajectory and ease of use. It can shoot an arrow up to 225 miles an hour.

Cojuangco noted that before the 2007 SEA Games, there were four archers to a team. Since the Thailand edition, a team was reduced to three archers but in Laos, the Philippines still couldn’t put together a women’s squad with only Chan and Tindugan seeing action. Paz would’ve been the third archer to compete the lineup for the women’s team.

Cojuangco described his ordeal with Paz and their 13-month-old baby boy Alfonso as a devastating experience. They were at home when water rose to over six feet in just an hour after the perimeter wall of the Rolling Hills Village in New Manila gave way due to the pressure of raging waters from the San Juan creek.

Cojuangco related that before his eyes, the water kept rushing into their bungalow and it was frightening. Cojuangco and Paz put their baby in an inflatable pool and they swam to a neighbor’s three-storey home for safety. The first floor of their refuge was inundated and the fleeing family entered swimming through a second-storey window.

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Cojuangco escaped wearing just a singlet and basketball shorts. His car went completely underwater and it will reportedly take a tidy sum to rehabilitate it. He lost his priceless collection of watches, bows, arrows and precision tools. Paz’ trophies and medals were gone, too – along with other mementoes of her achievements as a national archer. Two LCD TVs were recovered and are now in the repair shop. Hardly anything else was spared.

Anticipating the trip to Laos, Paz had stored about 200 ounces of breast milk in cups for Alfonso and kept them in a refrigerator. The milk has gone to waste.

Cojuangco recalled that when they were trapped at home, the feeling was like they were in a sinking ship. They barely escaped by swimming out of danger.

Cojuangco eventually moved his family to his parents’ home.

“We were in no condition to compete in the qualifiers for Laos,” said Cojuangco. “Aya was looking forward to defending her title in the women’s compound and joining Jennifer and Abby in the team competitions. But she couldn’t get ready in time. “

Worse, Cojuangco and Paz fell ill because of their exposure to the murky flood waters. They are now slowly recovering from sickness, stress and the trauma of narrowly escaping a life-threatening situation with their baby.

Eventually, Cojuangco and Paz will be back on the range.

“The future looks bright for archery,” said Cojuangco. “There’s a good developmental program in Dumaguete under coach Rowel Merto and it’s focused on getting kids to take an interest in the sport at an early age.”

Merto represented the Philippines in archery at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.