RP archer up against champs

Archer Jazmin Figueroa has come a long way from shooting arrows in a cramped garage in a crowded neighborhood in Balut, Tondo to the majestic setting of the once ancient ruins of the Olympic stadium in Athens one week from now.

She will be the lone archer from a compact 16-member Team Philippines and the latest in the long list of national archers to the Olympiad since 1972 in Munich when she sees action in the Olympic Round from Aug. 15-21 in the Greek city.

"I’m very excited because I will be representing the Philippines in the Olympics and I will perform to the best of my ability," said Figueroa, 19, who came from a family of four national archers.

But it will not be easy.

South Korea, a major force in Olympic archery, looms as the favorite to dominate the event and it would field defending women’s champion Yu Min Jin and Kim Soo Nyung, widely regarded as the greatest archer of all time. They will spearhead the Korean bid against threats from the Netherlands, United States and Australia.

Adding extra dimension to the tough competition is the historic setting of the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens — the site of the first Modern Games.

The venue, with its beautiful marble steps and walls, has been rebuilt on the site of the ruins of the stadium dating back to 329 B.C.

But the venue is narrower compared to other Olympic archery ranges and oval in shaped, prompting Jazmin and her coach Henry Manalang to break training at the University of the Philippines range and repair to the Rizal ballpark to approximate the conditions that would prevail during the Games.

In fact Figueroa, who left with the first group of Filipino athletes Friday, had worked out eight hours daily for six days at the Rizal ground, shooting sessions of 36 arrows over the infernal din and clutter of college baseball and softball teams in practice.

She had maintained that training grind since April when she was informed by the National Amateur Archery of the Philippines that she would compete in the Olympics as a wild card entry. The country was one of three invited bets, the other being Kazakhstan and Bhutan, to complete the 64-woman cast in the event.

Figueroa, the national women’s champion, was actually the third choice for the berth but top rated archer Jennifer Chan, who finished 58th in Sydney four years ago, has since retired and concentrated on coaching while Rachel Ann Cabral underwent surgery.

"First time niya sa Olympics at bata pa siya but she will gain a lot in exposure and experience and I think she can finish better than 58th in the knockout round. May puso siya," said Manalang.

The competing field will go through a qualifying round on the first day with two sessions of 36 arrows each to determine the placings for the knockout phase of the event. The 64 archers will then clash on a shootoff, firing 18 arrows in each of the first three rounds of the qualifier.

The surviving eight archers will contend in the quarterfinals with 12 arrows, the same number the semifinalists and the finalists will fire to determine the medallists.

" If I were to shoot 323 or 320 in the eliminations I will be in the lower 30 in rankings I will be in good shape in the knockout rounds because I would meet archers of lesser status," said Figueroa, a second year student at the University of Makati.

Although she was a consistent gold medal winner in the local front and a team gold winner in the SEA Games last year in Hanoi, the 5-foot-3 Figueroa has yet to chalk up impressive results on the tough world events.

She finished 110th out of 300 participants in the 42nd World Archery championship in New York last year where she first saw Korean idol Yu Min Jin —" Ang tatag-tatag ng porma, sobrang galing", she would swoon—72nd in the Turkey Golden Arrow and 24th in the Madrid University Games.

Early this year she competed in the Asian Archery Grand Prix in Malaysia where she landed 14th and in the Thailand GP where she was 12th in the standings.

Figueroa said these tournaments have given her enough exposures on overseas competitions and she would use the experience when she meets the world’s best in Athens. She remained confident she would hurdle tremendous odds since she gave up an inferior equipment in favor of a more competitive gear, a Hoyt bow and Easton X10 arrows.

She also drew inspiration from her girlhood idol, Adelinda Figueroa, a first cousin, who ruled the archery scene in the 90s and once conquered the US Open.

" I know I could perform well because in the Olympics it’s all a question of focus and concentration when the best players in the world compete. Gagawin ko ang akin makakaya para sa bayan," she said.