Rosario begins Olympic quest today

LONDON – Skeet shooter Brian Rosario starts his Olympic journey by aiming at 75 clay targets at the Royal Artillery Barracks today and finishes the elimination round by gunning 50 more tomorrow. The top six finishers of the 36 shooters in contention will advance to shoot at 25 targets each in the finals, also tomorrow.

The shooters will move around eight stations with at least two clay targets in each stop. An interval of anywhere between zero to three seconds will gap the release of the targets which are made of pitch and chalk. Three rounds of 25 targets apiece will comprise the schedule today and two more rounds of 25 tomorrow. In every station, one target will be high and the other, low. To make 25 targets in eight stations, there will be stops with three clay “pigeons.” The sequence is predetermined unlike in the trap event.

“The sequence is standard in skeet,” said Rosario’s shotgun coach Gay Corral. “No surprises. Brian’s a little apprehensive. After all, it’s his first Olympics but he knows nearly all of the competitors because they’ve gone against each other in previous world championships. It’s natural to be a little nervous. What is impressive about Brian is his mental focus. His parents wanted to fly to London but Brian asked if they could come after he shoots, not before, not during. He doesn’t need the added pressure or distraction in making sure his family is taken care of.” Rosario, the only boy in a family of four children, immersed himself in shooting while training for the Olympics, doing nothing else. His father operates the family business in industrial ceramics while his mother Lulu is a housewife. The first name of Rosario’s father is often mistaken to be Paul.

Corral said Philippine National Shooting Association president Mikee Romero is in town to provide moral support for Rosario. “We’re hoping Brian does well,” said Corral. “We’re grateful to Mr. Romero for his all-out support. Brian has worked hard to get himself ready. We practiced at the Churchill shooting range for about three weeks before moving to London. It was a perfect set-up because the Churchill range is a replica of the Royal Artillery Barracks. The layout is nearly the same and even the horizon in the background of the range is almost identical.”

Rosario, whose father Po was a multi-Southeast Asian Games shooting veteran, will use his 15-year-old Perazzi shotgun in the competitions. The weapon misfired during the Southeast Asian Shooting Championships this year but it’s now fixed with new parts, including a new firing pin. The Southeast Asian Championships include Chinese-Taipei and Hong Kong to tighten up the competition.

“The gun is fine now,” said Corral. “We’re confident Brian will do a good job with his trusted gun. The perfect score is 125 and Brian’s local record is 122 and international record is 120. I expect Brian to go over his personal best. He’s comfortable with the venue because he got very familiar with the Churchill layout. There is reason to be optimistic.”

There are 15 gold medals at stake in shooting which has three disciplines – pistol, rifle and shotgun. At the Beijing Olympics, China dominated the sport with five golds but the US still holds the edge, 50-19, in overall Olympic championships. US Army sergeant Vincent Hancock, 23, claimed the gold in skeet in Beijing and holds the Olympic record of 121 points.  In 2007, Hancock registered a perfect 125 to set the record at the World Championships in Lonato, Italy.