Multititled shooter Nathaniel “Tac” Padilla said he’s optimistic of retaining his rapid fire title in this year’s Southeast Asian Games after settling for a silver medal in the Southeast Asian Shooting Association (Sease) championships in Vientiane, Laos, over the weekend.
“It was a close fight,” said Padilla, who lost to Vietnam’s Guang-zhou Asian Games silver medalist Ha Minh Thanh. “But I missed the gold by two points after leading by one going into the last shot of the final series.”
Padilla, the 47-year-old GM of family-owned Spring Cooking Oil and five-time rapid fire pistol champ in the SEA games, including the one in Laos two years ago, was elated with his showing, which boosted his preparation for the coming Games in Jakarta.
He’s actually competing in the Games for the 17th time, inarguably the longest by a Filipino athlete in the Games.
Tac’s silver was the third won by Philippine delegation headed by shooting association secretary general NIL Gamboa.
Two NYDP (National Youth Development Program) standouts— 15-year-old Hayson Valdez and Inna Therese Gutierrez—produced the other medals. Valdez, who was gifted with a gun by Padlla to replace his old rifle, took the silver in men’s air rifle, while Gutierrez got a bronze in the ladies’ prone rifle event.