Romero, Padilla eye first Olympic medal in shooting for PH

MANILA, Philippines — More shooters mean more chances of hitting the target of a first-ever Olympic medal in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games.

With this in mind, shooting chief Mikee Romero is embarking on a long-term program for the Olympic sport with an inter-collegiate tournament and international meets aimed at expanding the Philippine National Shooting Association membership from just 200 to a thousand.

But apart from quantity, Romero also wants quality in the new batch of Filipino shooters he wants to develop under the five-year program he crafted with PNSA national developmental head Nathaniel “Tac” Padilla.

“It will be a big accomplishment if we could bring at least five shooters to the Olympics,” Romero said in Tuesday’s PSA Forum at Shakey’s UN Avenue.

Trap shooter Eric Ang was the country’s lone shooter during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Romero, who once competed for the national rifle team, said he would like to secure another wild-card berth for the 2012 London Games, although the primary aim has been to produce more shooters capable of winning a medal in Rio de Janeiro.

“Two years is not enough. It would take at least five years to produce a world-class shooter,” said Romero, a baseball benefactor and one-time godfather for the Philippine basketball team.

The PNSA is pinning its hopes on 17-year-old Hagen Topacio, an Olympic Solidarity scholar, to snare a seat in London. It is also pushing for 15-year-old Jason Valdez to represent the country in the 2014 Youth Olympics.

“The objective is not just to qualify but to capture the first gold medal in the Olympics,” said Padilla, the country’s perennial rapid-fire pistol champion and multiple Southeast Asian Games gold medalist.

On tap is a series of clinics at the Marines shooting range in Fort Bonifacio for the schools participating in the intercollegiate league, from where the PNSA will select the shooters who will compete in the Jakarta SEAG, according to Padilla.

“The target is to include the UAAP and the NCAA in our program,” said Padilla. “But we also have the Youth Olympics in mind, so we’re including high school students in our search.”

Romero said they would send young shooters to the Indonesia SEA Games in November.

The CEO of Harbour Centre is also encouraging uniformed personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police to beef up the training pool.

Romero said the collegiate shootfest in September should provide fresh faces for the developmental team and serve as springboard for the sport to be included in the UAAP and NCAA calendars next year.

According to Romero, the intercollegiate, along with the international meets, are necessary to lure more PNSA members since only 10 percent of them are talented enough to make the national pool.