This ‘Pinoy’ archer shoots for Canada

LONDON—There’s a second Filipino competing in the men’s division of the archery competitions in the 30th Olympic Games here, but though he’s proud of his heritage, he cannot represent the Philippines.

Crispin Duenas is a 26-year-old physics major who represents the land of his birth, Canada, although his parents are pure-blooded Filipinos.

Born and raised in Toronto, Duenas would have wanted to represent the Philippines in international competitions, including the Olympics, but the Canadian archery federation, which had nurtured his career since he was 14, won’t let him go.

“They (the Philippine archery association) asked me to join the Philippine team a few years back, but Team Canada didn’t want to give me up,” he said.

Crispin is the only child of Roland and Elena Duenas of Malabon and Manila, who migrated to Canada before Crispin was born 26 years ago. Roland is a recently retired IT expert based in Toronto and Elena, also retired, had worked for a logistics company.

Duenas ranked eighth in the men’s ranking round of the archery competitions held at the Lord’s Cricket Grounds a few hours before the Olympic opening ceremony here Friday.

He will face Egypt’s Ahmed El-Nemr in the men’s round of 32 on Monday.

The official Filipino entry in the men’s draw, Mark Javier, ranked 55th and will have the daunting task of overcoming a formidable opponent, the 10th-ranked United States champion, Brady Ellison, on Monday.

In the women’s draw, Rachelle Anne Cabral finished the ranking round in 48th place and will face Russia’s 17th-ranked Inna Stepanova in the knockout phase of the competition on Tuesday.

The rankings almost matched Javier and Duenas in the round of 32. They missed the matchup by only two places.

The ranking round determined the pairings for the first round of the knockout matches of the competition.

Duenas, his sunburnt face betraying the amount of training he has logged in the heat of the North American summer, appeared confident not only of going through the first round but also of winning the gold.

“If I shoot really, really well, I’m gonna win,” he said.

Winning, however, means having the necessary mental strength and getting past the three South Koreans who swept the first three places in the ranking round.

“I know the Koreans are better than me. But hey, they’re human,” he said.

Joan McDonald, his coach since he was 14, said Duenas is “absolutely” proud of his Filipino heritage and would be delighted to visit the Philippines someday.