WITH help from Philippine National Shooting Association president Mike Dy, Hagen Topacio bolstered his Olympic qualifying bid by finishing sixth in the men’s trap finals of the Asian Shotgun Championships in Kuwait last week.
A veteran of the Hangzhou Asian Games, Topacio, 34, scored 14 points in the finals of the event won by young Iranian Mohamad Beyranvand with 40 points in a shoot-off with China’s Guo Yuhao, who also tallied 40 at the end of five rounds. India’s Lakshay Lakshay (30) took the bronze medal.
Topacio finished second overall among 60 shooters in the qualifying round with a five-round tally of 120 on scores of 22, 24, 25, 25, 24, respectively, just one point behind top qualifier Beyrandvand, 15, at the Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex.
Based on the International Shooting Sports Federation rules, the top two finishers in the event booked tickets for the Paris Olympic Games in July in the Asian meet serving as the last Olympic qualifying competition for the continent.
“His (Topacio’s) 120 out of a perfect 125 points in the qualifying round is a world-class score by any measure,” noted former national trap shooter Raul Arambulo. “Hagen’s score in the qualifying round is the best so far among the national shooters aspiring to compete for the Olympics so far.”
Beijing Olympic Games veteran Eric Ang, who also used personal funds for his trip to Kuwait, finished 34th in the qualifying competition with a score of 110 points, according to Arambulo.
Topacio and Ang scored 113 and 112 points, respectively, and were the first and second top finishers in the PNSA January trap shooting competitions held at the PSC shooting range in Muntinlupa.