Top shooters here for Bolo Cup

MANILA, Philippines - Five-time International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) world champion Eric Grauffel and US Practical Shooting Association grand master Simon “JJ” Racaza will be arriving for the 12th Demetrio “Bolo” Tuason Cup slated at the Arms Corporation of the Philippines (Armscor) shooting range in Marikina from July 12-15.

Grauffel, 32, is legendary for his winning streak, having won his first French National Championship at the age of 15 and outshooting other competitors to capture 191 President Medals to date. He won the 2011 IPSC World Shoot championship in Greece and has been undefeated since 1999.

The Cebu-born Racaza, on the other hand, developed a passion for shooting when he was just six years old, starting with a bolt action, single shot air rifle. He was the top qualifier of the US Gold Team for the 2010 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Shooting Championships and currently works as an agent for the US Department of Homeland Security.

According to Armscor Shooting Ranges, Inc. president Gina Marie Angangco, the four-day event promises to be bigger and even more exciting with over 500 local and foreign shooters from Asia, the United States and Europe expected to compete in five divisions – standard, open, classic, production and revolver standard. Among the local competitors is former World Champion Jethro Dionisio.

 who has made it into the elite circle of world class shooters such as Rob Leatham, Doug Koenig, Mickey Fowler and John Pride, and Mary Grace Tan, who won the European championship for the ladies Open Division in 2007.

Named after Armscor chairman and president Demetrio Tuason, the 12th Bolo Cup comes right on the heels of the “70, 60, 50” triple anniversary celebration by the biggest firearms and ammunitions manufacturer in the country. Armscor traces its roots to 1941 when pioneer industrialist Don Celso Tuason bought the Squires Bingham company from American Arthur Hileman. The recent trifecta celebration commemorates Armscor’s 70 years of being a Filipino corporation; 60 years as the leading firearms and ammunition manufacturer and 50 years of Bolo Tuason’s leadership.

This year’s event has been sanctioned as a Level III Match both by the IPSC and the Philippine Practical Shooting Association (PPSA), and will also serve as one of the qualifier matches in selecting Philippine Team members who will compete in the Australasia 2013 Championships in New Zealand.