Tagle, Tio seek YOG medals

BUENOS AIRES – Team Philippines stayed on course in archery and kiteboarding but wavered in the opening round of mixed team golf as the third Youth Olympic Games entered its closing stages in this charming Argentine capital.

Nicole Tagle teamed up well with Estonia’s Hendrik Oun at the start of the mixed international team event at the Parque Sarmiento. It was a perfect day to shoot arrows, under the bright sun and a weather of just over 15 degrees Celsius.

Tagle and Oun warded off the pair of Isabela Bassi of Chile and Ravien Dalpatadu of Sri Lanka, 5-4, to reach the quarterfinals.

Up next for the brown-skinned archer of Silliman University and her partner, No. 13 in the rankings here, are No. 4 Alyssia Tromans Ansell of Great Britain and Reza Shabani of Iran.

Over at the Hurlingham Club, almost an hour away by train, Asian Games champion Yuka Saso and Carl Jano Corpus fell behind after the first round of the mixed team event under the four-ball stroke play format.

Saso and Corpus shot a four-under-par 66 in the round where they got to play their own balls and the better score counting for each hole. They stood tied with five others, nine strokes behind Alessia Nobiolo and Andrea Romano of Italy, who turned the course into a playground with their incredible round of 13-under 57.

The second round will be played under a foursome stroke play format, where teammates play one ball on alternate strokes. The third round will be played on cumulative scores.

At the Club Nautico San Isidro, Filipino-Norwegian kiteboarder Christopher Tio can only wish for favorable weather conditions. Due to lack of wind, Saturday’s races were called off, and unless things get going Sunday, medals will be awarded based on current standings.

After six races, Tio is running fourth behind leader Duery Corniel of the Dominican Republic with four net points, Cameron Maramenides of the United States (9) and Toni Vodisek of Slovakia (10). Tio has 13 net points after finishing second, fifth, eighth, third, eighth and third in six races.

If races are held Sunday, Tio will have to ride high to get to the podium.

Tagle and her partner dropped the first set, won the next two and lost the fourth to land in a shoot-off with Bassi and Dalpatadu. It was close until the end, with the side of the Filipina winning, 19-17, and heading to Sunday’s next round.

Tagle will also compete in the individual event on Monday.