Korean coach says archers on target

MANILA, Philippines - You can’t shoot straight with a broken arrow.

This the Filipino archers fully realized under top-notch Korean coach Chun Jae-Hun who started calling the shots for the national team only last month.

“Coach Chun was really surprised with the bows we were using,” Rachel Cabral, who will compete in her first Olympics, told Sports Radio the other day.

Cabral qualified to the London Olympics set July 27 to Aug. 12 along with Mark Javier, who will be in his second Olympics after a stint in the 2008 Beijing Games.

Cabral and Javier qualified to the London Olympics with their steady performance in the recent World Archery Championships in Utah.

Chun went with them to Utah, and the Korean coach admitted that he was amazed with the improvement Cabral and Javier showed after only a month.

“At first, he noticed that our arrows were making a funny sound. Parang basag na plato daw. Then we also realized that our arrows swayed in their path,” said Cabral.

“Coach Chun asked how long we have been using these types of arrows, and we told him they’ve been with us for seven years now,” Cabral added.

“Nagulat talaga siya (He was really surprised). He said, ‘What?’” Cabral added.

The first thing Chun did was fly back to Korea to personally look for sponsors for the Filipino archers. In no time, he was back with a couple of brand-new sets for the Filipinos to use.

“Hindi naman kasi kami anak mayaman para makabili ng sets na magaganda (We are not that rich to buy our own sets). Antigo na ang mga gamit namin,” said Cabral.

The London-bound archers said it was always difficult for them to request for brand-new and world-class equipment from the Philippine Sports Commission.

They said that if indeed new equipment came, they came late.

“We sometimes get our equipment on the eve of our departure,” they said.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco assured the archers it won’t happen again, saying the PSC under chairman Richie Garcia will make sure of this.

“We have to do it right from now on. I am not an archer but I know enough how important the equipment is,” said Cojuangco, who even suggested that Cabral and Javier leave early for London.

But Chun also suggested that he take Cabral and Javier to Korea for the final polishing.

“He wants us to undergo harsh training, and that we shoot until the evening. I think we can do that in Korea where the weather is also cold,” said Cabral.

She said she knows a Canadian archer who goes to Korea four times a year to train, and the results were just fantastic.

It’s never too late for the Filipino archers to do the same.