Lady archer hopes for long-term training

LONDON – Lady archer Rachelle Anne Cabral-de la Cruz is convinced that a short-term crash training program isn’t the solution to the problem of repeatedly failing to advance to the medal rounds in the Olympics.

Cabral-de la Cruz, 27, was seeded 48th of 64 after the opening day ranking process involving 72 arrows then faced No. 17 Inna Stepanova of Russia in the first head-to-head knockout encounter the day after at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in St. John’s Wood in the city’s northwest district. She lost, 7-1, in the race to six points as the match went only up to the fourth end in the best-of-five format. The University of Makati graduate, ranked No. 283 in the world, checked in with a higher standing than only two competitors, No. 332 Miki Kanie of Japan and No. 471 Sherab Zam of Bhutan.

“I was nervous but I didn’t feel the pressure,” said Cabral-de la Cruz. “I just wasn’t too familiar with the playing conditions. My feet sank in the carpet of synthetic grass. I couldn’t get my balance and I was very distracted by the moving camera and all the noise. There was also wind that changed the direction of my shots. I shot very poorly in the first two ends then I tied in the third, splitting two points with my opponent. I heard the announcement that after three ends, I was still alive. But I lost in the fourth and that was it.”

Cabral-de la Cruz said the Olympic experience was overwhelming and admitted to be in awe at the range. “I was prepared to win or lose, I didn’t put pressure on myself,” she said. “Whatever happens, I was ready to take it. I think the pressure was on my opponent who is ranked No. 10 in the world. Who am I? I had nothing to lose shooting against her. I never expected to be in the Olympics so just making it was already a big achievement.”

Cabral-de la Cruz said she started with the recurve bow but stopped for two years to switch to compound. “I left recurve because I thought our association was giving more priority in supporting compound,” she explained. “But I also know that compound is not in the Olympic format. I’m really more comfortable with recurve so when there was a chance to go back, I did only last February.”

Korean Chung Jae Hun, 38, was signed up to coach the national archers last May. Chung was a silver medalist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. “Can you imagine that in only a few months, coach Chung was able to qualify two archers to the Olympics,” said Cabral-de la Cruz. “What more if he had more time. His contract expires next week. I don’t know if he’ll be renewed but I think if we get a coach, it should be for a long-term commitment. It’s too short a period to train for something big like the Olympics. The Philippine Sports Commission gave us two new bows and a new set of arrows so we’re very happy with the support from government.”

If Cabral-de la Cruz had her way, Chung would be extended. “After I was eliminated in the first round, he encouraged me to keep improving,” she said. “I didn’t feel so bad after he talked to me. Whether he stays or not depends on our association.”

Cabral-de la Cruz said without a long-term training program, it will be more and more difficult to qualify archers to the Olympics. “We’ve got a lot of good archers,” she said. “We should give our potential medalists a training program abroad, long-term if possible. We can’t do things on our own. We need good coaching, a lot of international exposure and support. As for my personal goals, I hope to compete in the next Olympics. I want to redeem myself. I was proud to represent our country in London. It was an unforgettable experience. If we get good coaching, more international experience and a training program for the next four years, for sure, we’ll produce better results in Rio de Janeiro.”

Cabral-de la Cruz works as a secretary in archery godfather Jun Sevilla’s company at the Holy Cross Village in Novaliches. Sevilla provides living quarters for about 11 national pool archers, including Cabral-de la Cruz and her husband Paul, in his compound which has a shooting range. “Mr. Sevilla gives us all-out support,” she said. “He allows me to shoot full-time and excuses me from work in the office if I’m training. I hope to shoot better in the future and prove to Mr. Sevilla I’m trying hard to get to the next level.”