Matan, the second seed in the individual men’s event, fell to Malaysia’s Muhamad Marbawi B. Sulaiman, 101-104, in the semifinals and was relegated to the battle for the bronze with the other semifinal loser, Tun Lin of Myanmar.
Matan, 20, won, 108-103, to clinch the bronze that nevertheless served as an impetus for the country’s medal quest in the games which officially open today at the My Dinh National Stadium.
"I was swept away by my loss in the semifinals," said Matan, who emerged the favorite to win the gold after the top seed, Kuswanto of Indonesia, fell to Singaporean Loh Wen Liang in the quarterfinals.
"Hindi naman ganyan ang tira ko noong mga nakaraang araw, bigla na lang nanigas’ ewan ko," said the country’s top archer.
And the tension seemed to have boiled over to the fight for the bronze a half an hour later when his Myanmar opponent led, 25-26, after the first end.
"Parang nag-init na rin ako – hindi na dapat matalo," said the Filipino.
He scored three bulls-eyes in the next end to take the lead, 55-54, and was never headed on his way to the bronze.
"Okay na rin iyan," said Ligaya Manalang, team manager and secretary general of the national archery association.
"We have never experienced a gold medal shut out in the Games, and we still have great hopes with our men and women in the team competitions on Friday," Manalang told The STAR.
The men’s team, will have Matan and Marvin Cordero as the regular players and Christian Cubilla as reserve in today’s finals of the team competitions where the Philippines, as top seed among seven squads, is seeded in the first round.
"We have great chances in the men’s team competitions because we hold the SEA Games record," said Manalang.
The Philippines will also be leaning on Jennifer Chan and Joan Chan Tabanag in the women’s competitions where they are seeded third.
Matan, a carpenter’s son from Catarman, Northern Samar, felt the pressure early on in the semifinals when he fell three markers behind his Malaysian opponent, who also beat countryman Christian Cubilla by a mere point in the quarterifinals.
The Malaysian maintained his lead, 54-51, after the second end and and 76-79, after the third.
"Aywan ko kung bakit umiikot lang sa 8 ang score ngayon, hindi naman ganyan sa nakaraang rounds," he said. "Siguro may kinalaman ang hangin, dahil paiba-iba ang ihip ngayong hapon di tulad kanginang umaga na mas kalmado at mainit."
The Malaysian went onto win the gold, beating Loh, 104-102.