Shooters cop SEASA gold

MANILA, Philippines - Beijing Olympics veteran Eric Ang teamed up with Hagen Topacio as they powered Team Philippines to a runaway victory in the South East Asian Shooting Association (SEASA) Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia recently.

The 42-year-old Ang keyed the Filipinos’ romp in the event as he bagged the silver medal in the individual competition.

Ranged against the best in the region, the 11-time Phl Open champion showed his class as he topped the new six-man semis stage by firing 12 targets to advance outright to the final. Topacio and Vietnamese Le Nghia disputed the other berth in a shoot-off after finishing with similar 11 targets.

But the Vietnamese outlasted Topacio, 7-6, before edging Ang for the gold medal, 13-11.

The new final format did Ang in as it was the first time the ruling was used in the competition although it was already applied in some events after the London Games last year.

“Nanibago pa kami sa final format, but overall, we’re happy,” said the pride of Laoag. “We can do better if we only had enough training. Our training was distracted because of the gun ban.”

Ang and Topacio, however, bounced back in team competition, with the former firing 110 targets and the sharpshooter from University of the Philippines, considered as Ang’s heir apparent, hitting 115 targets as Team Phl tallied 328 to beat Taiwan by 17. The Malaysians finished third with 305.

Former world champion Jethro Dionisio also contributed 103 targets.

The troika of Ylvanna Dy, Joelle Panganiban, Kathlyn Granados captured the silver in their women’s side. Like Ang, Dy brought home two medals by finishing third in the individual event.