Phoenix awardee leads archery’s Asiad gold hunt

Deadeye Nicole Marie Tagle will simultaneously serve as the anchor of the archery team bound for the coming Asian Games and the Youth Olympic Games.

The 15-year-old from Dumaguete City will be the lone bet in the Olympic event women’s individual recurve during the Asiad in Palembang and Jakarta, Indonesia, on Aug. 18 to Sept. 2 before flying to Buenos Aires, Argentina, a month later.

Ranked No. 107 in the world, Tagle claimed a spot in the YOG after topping the secondary tournament in the World Youth Archery Championships in Santa Fe, Argentina, on October 2017.

The Phoenix Siklab Youth Sports Awardee for archery is hoping to replicate the feat of Luis Gabriel Moreno, who captured the country’s first YOG gold medal when he and partner Li Jiaman of China won the mixed international team event during the 2014 Games in Nanjing, China.

World Archery Philippines Inc. secretary general Rosendo Sombrio said Tagle will join four other archers in the Asian Games, where the Philippines is aiming to improve on its single gold-medal performance courtesy of BMX rider Daniel Caluag in the 2014 Incheon meet.