PH archers inch closer to London

ARCHERS Mark Javier and Rachelle Anne Cabral are on target for the London Olympics.

The two national archers finished among the top eight of their respective divisions in the final qualification tournament for the 2012 Olympics held in Ogden, Utah, in the United States, according to archeryworldcup.org.

Philippine National Archery Association secretary general Terry Lim also confirmed it yesterday, although Philippine Olympic Committee first vice president and Team Philippines chief of mission Manny Lopez said they still have to get the official communique from the World Archery Federation.

Javier finished fifth among the competitors who belonged to countries which didn’t have Olympic qualifiers yet. The 2008 Beijing veteran dropped to Venezuelan Elias Malave in the quarterfinals of the qualifying event which coincided with the World Cup.

Javier actually led Malave, 5-3, after four rounds, but the Venezuelan struck with a 28-26 win in the next round to force a shoot-off. Javier eventually bowed in the shoot-off, 8-6.

Cabral, a 27-year-old from Naga, booted out teammate Edwin delos Reyes to finish 7th in the women’s category.

Seven of the 80 male archers coming from 35 countries made the last trip to London, while eight of the 50 female bets from 25 nations booked their tickets.

Lopez said they are waiting for the confirmation from the international federation before they can consider Javier and Cabral as the 10th and 11th Filipino in the lean PH delegation to the London Games.

Cabral is a national team mainstay and is taking up sports education at the University of Makati, according to Lim.