Henares claims second gold in PNSA tourney

MANILA, Philippines - After winning the inaugural bench rest shooting competition a month ago, Daniel “Danby” Henares won his second gold medal in the monthly Philippine National Shooting Association (PNSA) semi automatic class competition last Sunday at the Philippine Shooting Range in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig.

Henares, who won the Bench Rest 50 (BR 50) title last February, scored a leading 475 points using a lowest-ranked rifle made from local parts that placed Raymond Mendoza (462) and Edwin Jeremillo (454) in the second and third place, respectively.

“Usually, the name of the game is equipment.  But I didn’t have the budget for the high end stuff so I used the carigo stock, the de guia shooting hat, the seatmate and emma sand bags, all locally made,” said Henares, who tied his own semi automatic record and stayed unbeaten in that division.  

“I brought my best weapon to the shooting table, my skill.”

He also settled for a silver medal in the light varmint class using only a semi automatic rifle after scoring 484 points of a possible 500 – behind gold medal winner Randy Paronda (485), the PNSA’s 2011 shooter of the year awardee.

Although he did not win the gold in the light varmint division, PNSA manager Richard Fernandes praised Henares for his performance. “He brought his semi automatic and shot side by side with the German match rifles and took silver and that’s unheard of in this sport.”

Tournament director Chito Clemente explained that bench rest shooters are known for their accuracy, where hitting a dot at 50 meters is common place.

Other gold winners in the monthly national event supported by PNSA president Mikee Romero were Eli Canivel, who ruled the Sporter event with 470, and Randy Paronda, who brought home his second gold medal after winning the heavy varmint event with a leading score of 494 points.