IN another huge feat for national para athletes, Marzel Burgos and Agustina Bantiloc stunned the South Korean pair of Sun Ki-Hwang and Jin Young-Jeong 143-139 last Tuesday to bag the mixed team bronze medal in the Asian Para Archery Championships in Bangkok, Thailand.
The polio-stricken Pinoy duo earlier upset the Taiwanese tandem of Yun Hsien-Lee and Chung Hung-Wu 145-138 in the quarterfinals but was relegated to the battle for the bronze by the No. 1 seed Indian squad of Rakesh Kumar and Sheetal Devi 155-141 in the semis.
Kumar and Sheetal Devi nipped Indonesia’s Ken Swagumilang and Teodora Ferelly 154-149 to pocket the gold medal.
“Our coach Jonathan Josol told us to shoot and just trust our skills,” said Burgos, 48, who also took a bronze medal with Bantiloc in the same event of the 2022 Indonesia Asean Para Games in Solo, Indonesia.
“Masayang-masaya po ako kasi first time kong manalo ng medalya sa Asian Para Archery championships,” said Bantiloc, 55, who also action with her partner in the last Hangzhou Asian Para Games.
Josol said competing virtually against the same field in Hangzhou, China enabled both archers to overcome their nerves in the Asian Para competitions.
“Hindi na sila gulat kasi nakalaban na nila itong mga ito sa Asian Para Games. This is a huge milestone for our national para archery squad,” Josol said.
Burgos and Bantiloc were back in action yesterday for the Asian Paralympic qualifying tournament for the 2024 Paris Summer Games. where the compound event is included as a regular medal sport.
Also competing in the compound event were Art Azcuna and Angelo in the men’s division while Giovanni is was the lone men’s entry in the recurve event.