RECURVE archers Jason Feliciano and Riley Silos remained in the hunt for Olympic slots last Sunday after hurdling their rivals in contrasting fashion in the World Archery Final Olympic Qualification Tournament at the Charlety Stadium in Paris, France.
Seeded 35th, Feliciano displayed nerves of steel to narrowly beat No. 78 seed David Fredricksson of Sweden 6-5 in the shoot-off, hitting 10 bullseyes to the latter’s 8 in sudden-death, after they emerged tied 5-all after five rounds.
Feliciano, who battled dengue early this year, seized the initiative 30-23 in the first round but had to scramble and force the shoot-off in fashioning scores of 30-23, 27-27, 28-29, 24-26, 27-22 in regulation.
The Pinoy hawkeye advanced against Sri Lankan 30th seed Sajeev de Silva, a 6-0 (27-24, 28-25, 28-27) winner over Estonia’s Kari Kivilo, in the next round scheduled yesterday in the final day of the competition.
The US-based Silos, seeded 61st, dumped Hong Kong’s Wan Chun Kit 7-3 (25-26, 27-26, 27-27, 25-23, 26-23) and faces Ukrainian No. 13 seed Heorhiy Ivanytskyy, who drew an opening-round bye, in the next round.
Feliciano and Silos need to win four more matches to reach the medal round where the top three finishers will earn slots to the Tokyo Olympic Games next month.
Siblings Pia Elizabeth and Gabrielle Monica Bisadaure, seeded 17th and 36th, respectively, have yet to play their first match in the women’s Olympic round.
Pia was set to meet No. 48 seed Fozi Nur Ain Ayuni of Malaysia while Gabrielle was to take on No. 29 seed Monera Mahanaz Akter of Bangladesh also yesterday.
