World no. 71 Amparo Teresa Acuna has surpassed the qualifying standard for the Asian Games during the ongoing tryouts for the national shooting team on Sunday at the Philippine Marine shooting range.
The 25-year-old Acuna surpassed the criteria for the Asian Games by 5 points when she equalled her own Philippine record of 582 points during the women’s 50-meter air rifle 3-position eliminations.
Officials of the Philippine National Shooting Association confirmed this, saying that Acuna’s last three qualifiers when averaged, have also met the Asian Games criteria.
“I qualified for Asian Games na po again,” said Acuna.
Acuna, who is at 120 in the Olympic Qualifying rankings, is set to join the first Olympic qualifier to be held in Azerbaijan in August, and in Indonesia in January, 2024.
In the 10-meter women’s air rifle, she is ranked at 121 in the world and 142 in the OQR standings.
She will be joined by fellow shooters Carlos Deniel Valdez and Franchette Quiroz for a series of Olympic qualifying events later this year.
Quiroz is at no. 85 in the world in women’s 10-meter air pistol, and at 113 in the OQR.
Valdez has a world ranking of 54 this month in the men’s 10-meter air pistol category, and is at no. 95 in the Olympic qualification standings.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Olympics veteran air rifle shooter Jayson Valdez isn’t sure about his bid in seeking qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The young Valdez has been undergoing training with the Philippine Marines and has fallen in the world rankings and out of the Olympic rankings as well for 2024.
National coach Julius Valdez said his son Jayson has a lot of catching up to do to get back in the world rankings.
Last month, Acuna and Jayson Valdez bagged a bronze medal for the Philippines in the 2023 Air Rifle/Pistol Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia.
In the same meet, Acuna, who is also preparing for the Asian Games, shattered a one-year-old mark she set after placing 10th during the 10-meter air rifle qualifications.
During the Indonesia meet last month, Acuna accumulated 622.2 points to surpass the Philippine record of 622 by Denise “Yam” Basilla, achieved in April 2022.