SHOWING poise beyond her years, junior player Ada Sophia Lagrada stunned fancied national team mainstay Monica Gabrielle Bidaure 6-2 in the women’s open recurve Olympic round event of the Philippine Archery Cup finals last Sunday at the STI Gold Toe Archery Center in Marikina.
Carrying the colors of Olympic Archery Philippines, Lagrada, 18, kept her cool to beat Bidaure, 21, of the Dumaguete Archery Club and a gold medalist in the 2022 Vietnam Southeast Asian Games, after four tense sets for a total of 101 points to the latter’s 98.
Her triumph was the highlight of the two-day tournament organized by World Archery Philippines led by Atty. Jesus Clint Aranas, which also held the first leg of the 17th Philippine Archery Cup for 2023 earlier in the day.
Fellow junior archer Jonathan Ebbinghans Reaport completed a sweep for the club, beating Cebu Archery Club’s Rogelio Miguel Tremedal 6-2 (106-98) to bag the gold medal in the men’s open recurve Olympic round.
“This was the first time to play ate Monica. It was fun but also nerve-wracking,” said Lagrada, an incoming freshman at the College of St. Benilde who was a silver medalist in the 2019 Batang Pinoy National Games in her hometown of Puerto Princesa, Palawan.
“I think I just need a little bit more practice. It was one of those days when I had difficulty hitting the target. But congratulations to Ada because she really played well today,”
Bidaure, who has been juggling her training and studies as a BS Psychology sophomore student at Silliman University in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, noted.
“It happens to the best of our archers — getting caught on an off day. Monica will learn from the experience and not to take her opponents lightly,” said national coach Clint Sayo.
WAP secretary general Dondon Sombrio was pleased that two members of the national development pool in Lagrada and Reaport stood out, “which shows that our national developmental pool coach Nino Sinco is on the right track. This will also keep our national archers on their toes.”
Gabrielle bested elder sister and national teammate Pia Elizabeth, scoring 610 points to bag the gold medal in the women’s recurve 72-round event to the latter’s 593, while Lagrada (587) settled for the bronze medal.
Tremedal topped the men’s recurve 72-round event (628) while Girvin Garcia (620) and Reaport (615) took the silver and bronze, respectively.
The husband-and-wife team of Paul Marton and Rachel Anne dela Cruz, who copped the mixed compound gold medal in the 2019 SEA Games, swept both the compound men’s and women’s 72-round and Olympic round events.
