SEA GAMES: Shooters ready to make mark

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines shooting team will be firing on all cylinders when the Southeast Asian Games starts next month.

With veteran sharpshooter Nathaniel “Tac” Padilla at the helm, the country will field 11 shooters in the SEA Games slated Nov. 11 to 25 in Jakarta and Palembang in Indonesia.

The team is touted to be the youngest ever formed for an international multi-event competition with three teenagers  in the fold.

Only Padilla and fellow veteran marksmen Emerito “Mae” Concepcion and Carolino Gonzales belong to the “older generation.” But they are expected to help the young guns learn the ropes in big-time competitions.

The youngsters are 16-year-old Jayson Valdez, who is the youngest and most promising shooter in the squad, Mark Lorenz Manosca (19), Clarissa Esteves (19), Andrea Faustman (21) and Venus Lovelyn Tan (21). Shannin Gonzales, Inna Therese Gutierrez and Frances Nicole Medina complete the crew.