Henares a point shy to reset world mark

MANILA, Philippines - A part-time sportsman who competes for fun tied the world record in the 50-meter rim-fire light varmint bench-rest shooting division recently and now, Danby Henares could be on his way to represent the country at the World Championships in Brisbane, Australia, next year.

Henares, 57, never expected to come within a bull’s eye of setting a new world record when he shot it out at the first monthly Philippine National Shooting Association qualifying competition at the Marine Range in Taguig City recently. He scored 747 of a possible 750 points to eclipse the national record of 746 set by Augsie Estrada last October and equalled the world mark of Hall of Famer Carl Boswell.

Henares said he couldn’t have done it without the assistance of modern technology. “I invested in a German Anschutz rifle and a scope that magnifies up to 60 to 80 times,” he said. “Bench-rest shooting is an extremely precise sport where the modified Olympic match rifle is propped up. You don’t even touch it. You adjust the elevation from top to bottom and the windage from left to right with gears. You’re given 75 targets each of which is about one millimeter in diameter and you shoot from a distance of 50 meters. Each target has a maximum of 10 points for a bull’s eye. Because it’s a high precision sport and the magnification power is so high that rifles can only be used when they’re benched, even your motion process has to be the same for every shot.”

Henares got off to a hot start, finding the bull’s eye in his first 15 shots then missed. “This was my first competition in 10 months as I got busy with work,” he said. “I even forgot how to adjust my scope. I had to ask another shooter Jimmy Maniwag whether you turn the scope wheel counterclockwise or clockwise. Once I adjusted it with two counterclockwise clicks, I missed just one of my next 25 shots. Then, it came down to the last card of 25. For some reason, I couldn’t miss. I hit 20 straight center shots and I was down to the last five. I took a deep breath and told myself to relax. Down to three to two and finally, one. I couldn’t believe I did it, a perfect card. I finished within 10 minutes of the 20-minute limit. Luckily, I shot while there was no wind. Right after I was done, the wind began to blow.”

For Henares, the win was a surprise birthday gift. “It was my birthday and my wife prepared a lunch with friends,” he said. “It was also our wedding anniversary. I couldn’t miss the lunch so when I registered to compete, I signed up only for the morning shoot. Imagine if I had just one less miss, I would’ve set a new world record. That’s how big one point is in this sport.”

Henares said he hopes to join the succeeding monthly qualifications which will determine the composition of the national team at next year’s Brisbane World Championships.

Bench-rest shooting involves the rim-fire rifle which uses gunpowder and the air-gun rifle which uses compression to propel the projectiles. Competition with both weapons is in three weight rifle classes – heavy varmint of up to 14.5 pounds, light varmint of up to 10.5 pounds and sporter of up to 8.5 pounds.

“This sport is about endurance and precision,” said Henares who not only shoots but also plays basketball, football, billiards, volleyball and badminton, boxes, races karts and wakeboards. “Unfortunately, it’s not an Olympic or an Asian Games event. However, the World Rim-Fire Air-Gun Bench-Rest Federation holds a world championship once in two years. Will I ever try to compete in an Olympic shooting event? I don’t know. I can do Olympic air pistol but I’m far from being competitive. I don’t think I can do air rifle because you take 60 to 70 shots with a 14 pound rifle and I’ll be shaking before I’m through. It’ll probably take six to seven years to become competitive as a shooter in an Olympic event so I might just stick with bench-rest shooting.”

Henares, who took up law at the Ateneo, said it’s his competitive nature that drives him to excel in sports. “I like being competitive and working hard to win,” he said. “For me, sports is primarily a social thing, it keeps me connected with friends. I’m in it for fun. Thrice, I signed up on my own to join seven-a-side masters football tournaments in Indonesia, France and England. On weekends, I play with the Blue Guards at the Ateneo football grounds. I belong to the Prima Badminton Club. Five years ago, I did karting with my brother Atom but we stopped when we realized we’d be competing against 10-year-olds in races. I did boxing at Gold’s Gym and my father (economist Larry Henares) wondered why.”

Henares said his recent stint as Air21 assistant team manager in the PBA was an enriching experience. “I had no specific goals and I went in there to learn as Lito Alvarez’ assistant,” he said. “It was half-ceremonial and half-work. My involvement wasn’t day-to-day. But I attended practice. I enjoyed listening to the coaches think up of strategies. I’d like to stay connected with the PBA in some capacity because it’s a quality league and the competition is intense. At Air21, we developed an exciting team, enough to surprise the league leaders. The team was recently sold to N-Lex and I’m excited to be part of another franchise that I will reveal in the near future.”