Veteran shooter Amparo Teresa Acuna broke another Philippine record before she and Jayson Valdez bagged a bronze medal for the Philippines recently in the ongoing 2023 Air Rifle/Pistol Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The world no. 96-ranked Acuna, who is preparing for the Asian Games, shattered a one-year-old mark she set after placing 10th during the 10-meter air rifle qualifications.
The 25-year-old Acuna accumulated 622.2 points to surpass the Philippine record the she made last year in the 2022 Cairo World Championships with her tally of 617.8.
“I’m relieved that my training from the past month paid off. But at the same time I know there’s lots of room for improvement and I will continue working on what I’ve learned from this competition,” said Acuna, who won’t preparing for the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games with Valdez after their events were not included.
On Sunday, Acuna and Valdez snared the bronze medal in the mixed 10-meter air rifle semifinals.
After placing sixth in the qualifications with 610.7 points, Acuna and Valdez prevailed over Malaysia’s Alia Burrudin and Hafiz Hessy, 16-6, in the semis shootoff.
Last December, Acuna broke a record at the PNSA-PSC Shooting Range at the Philippine Marines Barracks in Taguig City.
She tallied 582 points in the women’s 50-meter rifle, 3-position event, to smash her year-old mark by a point.
Her previous record was at 581, achieved in the 2017 Southeast Asian Shooting Association championships in Subang, Malaysia, where she settled for the bronze. That mark reset the 580, which Acuna did in 2014.
According to her mom, Tessa, Acuna now holds three national records—the 10-meter air rifle, the 50-meter 3-position rifle, and the 50-meter rifle prone. Peter Atencio
