MANILA, Philippines - After surpassing the Olympic Youth Games qualifying score together with three other Filipino shooters, Jayson Valdez and Dianne Nicole Eufemio were rewarded with a two-week stint in a training camp in Bangkok, Thailand next month.
“They deserve the trip,” said shooting vice president and NYDP (National Youth Development Program) chair Nathaniel “Tac” Padilla of the training grant given to Valdez and Eufemio by Asian Shooting Confederation’s Sheik Salman. “They performed creditably in the Asian Youth Games in Singapore.”
Valdez, 14-year-old Malate Catholic School student, collected 566 points in the 10-meter air rifle competition to breach the 552 qualifying score, while Eufemio, 17, tallied 385 in the women’s 10-meter rifle event to top the 368 qualifying score.
The three other RP rifle shooters who went beyond the qualifying card in their respective events were 14-year-old Shanin Gonzales, Mark Lorenz Manosca and Czarmainne Trajano.
Gonzales, 14, and Trajano, 16, shot 361 and 360 in the women’s 10-meter air pistol competition to surpass the 355 qualifying mark. Manosca, 16, fired 550 in the men’s 10-meter air rifle event to hurdle the 540 qualifying score.
Valdez, who competed in Singapore using a borrowed rifle after his old rifle broke down a week before the team left, and the four other Filipino youngsters will see action anew in the Asian Airgun Championships set Dec. 16-22 this year in Doha, Qatar.
“These five could be our future shooting champions,” noted PNSA president Art Macapagal. “They’re all products of the NYDP handled by Tac (Padilla). This means we have a good development program going.”
These young rifle bets failed to win medals in the Asian Youth Games, but they all placed only a few points away from the medal race.
The participation of Valdez and Eufemio in the two-week Bangkok training camp is expected to further hone their skills.