Hanoi—Archery contributed its first gold to the Philippine campaign in the 31st Southeast Asian Games here on Wednesday, nipping top seed Vietnam 26-25 in a thrilling shoot-off for the women’s team recurve title at the Hanoi National Training Center.
Abby Bidaure, 20, emerged as the heroine for Team Philippines, hitting the bullseye in the final arrow of the shoot-off for a 10 with just 10 seconds left on the clock, eliciting loud cheers from other members of the team who gingerly watched the thrilling showdown from behind.
The winning team, which included Bidaure’s sister, Pia, and Phoebe Amistoso, battled back with a 57-49 win in the fourth frame after trailing 1-2 in the first three, forcing a shoot-off that came down to Abbu’s winning shot.
“Basta ang sinasabi lang po namin, amin na to, kaya na namin, kasi ‘yun lang din po ‘yung ginagawa namin sa practice. Pagkatapos naming mag-shoot, nag-uusap kaming tatlo, ang sinasabi lang po namin, mag-me-medal po kami ngayong SEA Games,” said Pia, 23, like Abby born in Dumaguete.
Pia, who won her first SEA Games gold in her third try, expected Abby to hit the bull’s-eye and make the difference in the tightly-fought contest, saying: “Inaantay ko na lang talagang dumilim ‘yung gitna (bull’s-eye), kasi ang laki ng tiwala namin kay Abby na last shooter. Ang laki ng tiwala namin na maipapasok niya kahit 10 seconds na lang ‘yung naiiwan” on the clock.
“Of course, very happy, kasi ito ‘yung first gold namin, team pa! May trust na kasi ako sa aming tatlo, nu’ng praktis pa, maganda na ‘yung aming shooting. Sobrang confident ko nu’ng papunta kami dito,” said Amistoso.
The archery squad gets a chance to shoot for its second gold Thursday when it battles Malaysia in the finals of the compound bow mixed team event.
Shooting a perfect last end, the team of Paul dela Cruz and Jennifer Jing Chan came from behind to edge Thailand 155-154 in the semis last Tuesday while the Malaysians beat Vietnam 154-152.
