Gotuaco nails 11th spot

NANJING—Archer Bianca Roxas-Chua Gotuaco showed steady nerves and ranked No. 11 in the classification round Friday of women’s recurve at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games here.

The 16-year-old shot 642 points to be in the upper third of the 32-archer field in the 60-meter, 72-arrow event at Fangshan archery field.

In contrast, Luis Gabriel Moreno struggled to find his range and pooled 605, good for 30th spot in the men’s rankings despite a promising start.

Gotuaco and Moreno carry their rankings into today’s Olympic round at 3 p.m. where the survivors will advance to the round of 16 scheduled on Monday.

“Overall, the scores Gab and I shot weren’t what we usually do in practice,” said Gotuaco, who recently captured a gold medal in a competition in Ohio and placed third in the Seoul International Archery Fiesta.

“I’m satisfied with mine (score), but we could have definitely done better.”

Gotuaco, a 10th grader at Manila International School, fired 322 points in the first 36 arrows and compiled 320 in the second 36. A total of 25 of her shots found the bull’s eye.

She will face Miasa Koike of Japan, who ranked 22nd with 618 points, in the round of 32.

Lee Eun-gyeong of South Korea topped the rankings with 681 points followed by Indonesia’s Diananda Choirunsa (673) and China’s Li Jiaman (669).

“My second round was so bad but I still gave my best,” said the 16-year-old Moreno.

The La Salle Green Hills high school junior scored 325 points in the first 36 arrows but faltered in the latter half with 280. He will have a mountain to climb in the round of 32 as he faces the third-ranked Marcus D’Almeida of Brazil, who shot 683 points.

South Korea’s Lee Woo-seok put together 704 points to nail the No.1 spot, Atul Verma of India placed second (688) and Brazil’s Marcus D’Almeda third (683).

“Starting tomorrow, losers will be eliminated,” said coach Marvin Cordero. “I think we’ll be fine.”

Cheering for Moreno and Gotuaco at the sidelines were Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr., Philippine Sports Commission chair Richie Garcia, POC secretary general Steve Hontiveros, treasurer Julian Camacho and chef de mission Jonne Go.

The medal round is scheduled Tuesday.

On other fronts, gymnast Ava Lorein Verdeflor aims for a medal in the finals of the uneven bars in women’s artistic gymnastics Saturday night at Nanjing Olympic Stadium Gymnasium. The 16-year-old Verdeflor finished 11th in the all-around finals Wednesday.
Zion Rose Nelson, who placed fourth in her heat with a time of 56.22 seconds, will compete at about the same time as Verdeflor in Finals B of the women’s 400 meters at the track oval.

Jessica Thornton of Australia heads the contenders in the elite Finals A after posting the fastest time in the heats (52.78).

The Philippines is still looking for its first medal in these global Games featuring the world’s best athletes below 18 years old.

Swimmer Roxanne Yu, triathlete Vicky Deldio and shooter Celdon Jude Arellano all bombed out in their respective events in the Games’ first week.