RP shooters miss target; Thais win

Despite a spirited charge, the Philippine shooting team again fell short as fancied bets Nathaniel "Tac" Padilla and Emerito Concepcion lost in their respective bids for medals in Day 4 of the shooting competitions of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games in Taguig and Muntinlupa yesterday.

Padilla finished sixth in the men’s 25m standard pistol ruled by Vietnam SEA Games double gold medallist Jakkrit Panichpatikum of Thailand.

Also an Olympian, Panichpatikum finished with 567 points to win the gold, followed by Vietnam’s Nguyen Manh Tuong (561) and Pham Cao Son, who snared bronze by beating Malaysian bet Hasli Izwan Ami Hasan, 90-88, in a shoot-off. Son and Hasan finished the finals with identical scores of 555.

Padilla scored 550 points to land sixth in the eight-man field. He said the event was not his forte, although he offered no excuses, saying he just lost to superior opponents. He also admitted that the pressure of playing in front of his countrymen affected his performance.

"I was trying too hard," said the Filipino bet, who vowed to go all-out in the 25m rapid fire set today and the 25m center fire scheduled tomorrow.

Meanwhile, many-time SEAG campaigner Emerito Concepcion fell just 1.9 points short of a medal in the men’s 10m air rifle, settling for fourth place with 687.3 points. Tavarit Majcharcheep took another gold for Thailand with 697.1. Vietnam’s Nguyen Tan Nam took the silver ( 689.2) and Singapore’s Zhang Jin the bronze (689.2)