Indons dominate Asean shootfest

PALAYAN CITY — Indonesia dominated the initial action of the 11th Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) Armies Rifle Meet at the Fort Magsaysay here on Monday.

Indon triggermen topped the team events in the Carbine Match 1 and Pistol Match 2. Serda Subata fired 44 points and Sertu Armadi made 43 as Indonesia took the lead in the Carbine Match 1 with a total of 167 points.

Placing second was defending champion Thailand, followed by Singapore at third.

The Philippine lagged behind at fourth place as Cpl. Armando Mejia, who came up with a respectable 39, failed to get enough support from his teammates in the Carbine Match.

The participants in the Carbine Match use Baby Armalite or AK-MR hitting target from distances of 50, 75 and 100 meters for standing position in the precision shoot, and 100 meters for the prone position in the rapid shoot.

Defending pistol king Pratu Totok accounted for 49 points to power last year’s runner-up Indonesia to the Pistol Match lead with a total of 176 points. Host Philippines, with team captain Capt. Noel Detoyato at the helm, shot its way to second place with a total of 165.

Following at third was Singapore with 160.

Pistol event covers a distance of 25 meters in standing position for the precision shoot.

Last year’s overall champion Thailand made its presence felt by topping the Machine Gun Match 1 with a total Index Score of 24 points. Placing close second however was the Malaysian Team’s C and B with 23 and 22 respectively.

The Machine Gun event covers distances of 500, 400, 300 and 200 meters, all in prone position.

Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Arsenio Tecson, Philippine Army Vice-Commander, led the elaborate opening ceremony that was attended in full force by the Army Vice-Commanders of other participating countries.