Philippine shooters find target

SUBIC, Philippines —  Filipino shooters were on target, making a last addition to the country’s gold-medal haul with a bull’s eye in the men’s trap shooting team event in the 30th SEA Games competitions at the Ilanin Forest here.

All veterans of shotgun world championships, the trio of Eric Ang, Carlos “Itos” Carag and Hagen Alexander Topacio shot a total of 338 points over five rounds to strike the championship. 

Former Olympian Ang and shotgun World Cup campaigner Carag posted 115 markers each while Topacio contributed 108 in their eight-point victory over the Malaysian team.

The Malaysian triumvirate of Bernard Yeoh, Cheng Ong and Foo Chen racked up 330 points for a silver-medal finish while Thailand’s Savate Sresthaporn, Yodchai Phachonyut and Tadhongkam Kornthawat captured the bronze with 321 points.

Later on, Sresthaporn denied Carag a double-gold collection after snaring the title in the men’s individual trap.

A 56-year-old seasoned marksman, Sresthaporn hit 44 in 50 rounds to edge Carag, who only shot 41 to settle for silver.

Ong pocketed the bronze with 34 markers as Ang struggled for just 29 to crash out of the podium.

For Carag, winning a gold in this SEA Games was just halfway through their campaign to make it to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

“We’re preparing for five to six months internationally to hit the minimum qualifying score for the Olympics. It’s possible for us to get a wildcard so there’s no stopping for us. We’ll just have a short break and we will quickly get back to training,” said Carag.

Carag, Ang and Topacio made it to the Shotgun World Cup in August in Finland and in the World Shotgun Championships in Iran last March with the Tokyo Summer Games as their next target.