SEA Games: Philippine bags first gold in archery with women’s recurve team win
Pia Bidaure, Gabrielle Bidaure and Phoebe Amistoso won the gold for the women’s recurve-team during the 31st SEA Games held in Hanoi, Vietnam. SEA GAMES POOL
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine archery team captured its first gold medal in the women’s recurve team competition of the 31st Southeast Asian Games archery on Wednesday at Hanoi Sports Training Center in Vietnam.
Pia Elizabeth Bidaure, Gabrielle Monica Bidaure, and Phoebe Nicole Amistoso delivered the first fold for the sport after beating Vietnam, 5-4, in the final.
The Filipino troika edged hometown bets Thi Anh Nguyet Do, Thi Ngoc Ha, and Thi Thanh Nhi Nguyez, who settled for silver.
Myanmar got the bronze after foiling Malaysia, 5-4.
Abby Bidaure, 20, hit the bullseye in the final arrow of the shoot-off for a 10 with just 10 seconds left on the clock, outlasting the home side with a thrilling 26-25 victory.
Her sister, Pia knew that Abby would hit the bullseye to lift their team to a dramatic finish.
“We really trusted Abby as the last shooter. We believed that she would hit the bullseye with 10 seconds left on the clock,” said Pia, who won her first SEA Games gold in her third try.
The Filipino archers battled back with a 57-49 win in the fourth frame after they went down 1-2 in the first three to force a shoot-off.
“Of course, I’m very happy. This is our first gold. We really trust each other. In practice, we developed our shooting. We’re really confident that we will reach this,” said Amistoso in Filipino.
The archery squad gets a chance to shoot for its second gold Thursday when it battles Malaysia in the finals of the compound bow mixed team event.
Paul dela Cruz and Jennifer Jing Chan shot a perfect last end, coming from behind to edge Thailand 155-154 in the semis last Tuesday while the Malaysians beat Vietnam 154-152.
