A six-member Philippine team will be in Korea this week to look for qualifying points and slots for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The country’s top female pistol and rifle shooters, Amparo Acuna and Franchette Quiroz, already left Friday for Changwon with skeet marksman Brian del Rosario to get ready for the 15th Asian Shooting Championship 2023.
Philippine National Shooting Association secretary general Iryne Garcia said the three will be there early to acclimatize and adjust to the conditions of the weather and the range.
“I’m sending them there today. Some of them, nauna na para makapag-practice at maka-adjust na,” said Garcia.
For Acuna and Quiroz, the journey comes two weeks after their satisfying stints in the 19th Asian Games in Huangzhou, China.
The competitions will happen from October 22 to November 2, with the top shooters from across Asia competing and with two Olympic quota slots offered in 12 events.
Quiroz is now the highest-ranking shooter from the Philippines after the Asiad, with her Olympic qualification ranking rising from no. 157 to no. 102 in the women’s 10-meter air pistol event after the Asiad.
Acuna is also a shooter to watch out for as after her stint in the Asiad, she moved a notch up and is now no. 152 in the Olympic qualification rankings in the 50-meter rifle, 3-prone position.
But she is still at no. 175 in the 10-meter air rifle event, yet hopeful of earning Olympic qualification points with her showing.
The two are in in the company of trap shooters Hagen Topacio and Carlos Carag in having opportunities of joining international meets and opportunities to go higher in the Olympic Qualification system.
Topacio and Carag joins the trio on Wednesday to get ready for their events as well. Jethro Dionisio, who replaces Eric Ang, will be with them as the team’s sixth member.
Another Filipino hopeful, Carlos Deniel Valdez, won’t be joining the trip, after he was pulled out by his supporters.
While in the Asiad, Quiroz came up with her best performance in the women’s 10-meter air pistol event.
Quiroz’s 569-point showing came within range of the record-breaking 578 she produced during the national training pool eliminations last July 16.
So far, she has already equaled the national mark of Susan Aguado last June 4 during the Asian Games Qualifying rounds.
Both Topacio and Carag did not make the finals. But Topacio’s score of 117 and Carag’s tally of 114 in the qualifications were enough to push them in the International Shooting Sport Federation’s Olympic Qualification Rankings, which is updated monthly.
The 33-year old Topacio now has an OQR of 188, with Carag behind at 207.