GUANGZHOU—Nathaniel “Tac” Padilla still continues to put the country’s quest for shooting glory in his cross hair. Only this time, he is aiming for victories not just from his own pistol.
An excited Padilla said the 16th Asian Games here will be memorable no matter what happens, if only for the fact that the RP squad will feature four fresh faces who will be representing the country in a major meet for the very first time.
“These kids are the future of the sport,” Padilla told the Inquirer on a chilly Wednesday evening after touching down at the Baiyun Airport here.
Even making the legendary shooter beam with pride is the fact that the young kids are all products of his national youth program which he initiated mainly to replenish his sport’s talent pool.
The four Asiad and PH team newbies include 15-year-old Jayson Valdez, 18-year-old Mark Lawrence Manosca, 16-year-old Alyanna Chuatoco and 18-year-old Charisse Palma.
“They’ve been really doing great in competitions and they’re all excited because this is the first time they are representing the country in an event of this magnitude,” the soft-spoken Padilla said.
Completing the team are veteran campaigners Jethro Dionisio and Eric Ang and Hagen Topacio.
Padilla said he is looking forward to competing in the Asiad after a string of solid performances in practice back home.
“I’ve been hitting really good scores that have been surpassing the (2006) Doha (Asian Games) standards in practice,” Padilla revealed. “So I’m pretty confident.
“But you never really know in this sport because anything can really happen here,” said Padilla, who once fell victim to a gun jam in the finals that blew his championship hopes.
“But then again, if anything can happen that will lead you to lose, in the same way, anything can happen that might give you the victory,” he said.
“We’ll just really go out there and compete for the country.”