Ace Filipino shooters hitting Paris target

Franchette Quiroz and Amparo Acuna are right on track for a stint in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Both lady shooters exceeded the minimum qualification scores (MQS) in four Olympic events at the end of the 2023 Asian Shooting Championships in Changwon, South Korea, on Wednesday.

“We’re hopeful and we’re pushing. As we get closer to the Olympics, getting the quota becomes easier, because all of the other shooters have already secured the quota,’’ said Philippine National Shooting Association secretary general Iryne Garcia.

In a sport demanding immense focus and precision, Quiroz assembled 565 points with rounds of 95, 94, 92, 96, 94 and 94 in the women’s 10-meter air pistol, surpassing the MQS of 560.

The 27-year-old highest ranked Filipino shooter after the recent Asian Games in Hangzhou made it two in a row with a 574 in the women’s 25-m pistol, raising more points for Quiroz to heighten her Olympic qualification rankings.

Acuna likewise met the standards in two events—in the women’s 10-m air rifle and the 50-m rifle prone competitions—to reach her finest performance yet at 16th overall on the final day of the continental Olympic qualifier.

Just short of record

She put together 616.6 points in the air rifle, just 5.6 points short of matching the Philippine national record but was way above the MQS of 590. Acuna capped her stint by compiling 616.7 in the rifle prone.

After her stint in the Asian Games, Quiroz leaped from No. 157 in the Olympic qualification ranking to No. 102 in the 10-m air pistol while Acuna moved up a notch to No. 152 in the 50-m rifle 3-prone position.

“Franchette is new in Olympic pistol, but she’s world champion in other events. Both she and Amparo are doing well,’’ said Garcia.

At least two more Olympic qualification meets are on the calendar next year before the window closes on June 9.

Next stop for the national shooters is the 2024 Asian Shooting Championships on Jan. 5 to Jan. 18 in Jakarta, Indonesia, before they embark on a last-chance ticket grab in the 2024 ISSF World Olympic Qualification Tournament on April 11 to April 19 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“Even if the shooters who already qualified do win in the next tournaments, they don’t get the quota anymore. It will be given to the next highest ranked shooter,’’ said Garcia.

Men’s trap shooters Jethro Dionisio, Carlos Carag and Hagen Topacio weren’t as fortunate after missing the MQS of 112 in their events. Dionisio and Topacio fired 105 while Carag pieced together a 102.Skeet shooter and 2012 London Olympian Paul Brian Rosario couldn’t find the target either with his 107 off the qualifying score of 114.

“This is the creme dela creme of Philippine shooting. We are on track to send our shooters to the Olympics through the qualification meets,’’ said Garcia.