HAGEN Topacio slumped to a fifth and final round score of 21 in the qualifiers last Tuesday, winding up in 69th place overall with a total tally of 116 points in the ISSF Final Olympic Qualification Shotgun competitions in Doha, Qatar.
Topacio struggled to duplicate the sharp form that saw him share the lead after the first two rounds with successive perfect scores of 25 each at the Lusail Shooting range just north of downtown Qatar.
Tokyo Olympian Eric Ang scored 21 in his last round for a total of 111 points and placed 116th among the 140 entries in the last Olympic qualifying meet for the trap event for the Paris Olympic Games.
Spanish sensation Andres Garcia, 20, the last finalist, scored 46 points in the championship round to clinch the gold medal, edging Italian qualifying topnotcher Mauro de Filippis who settled for the silver medal with 45 points.
Turkish shooter Oguzhan Tuzun shot 35 points for the bronze medal as he and Garcia sealed tickets to the Paris Olympic Games since Filippis had already garnered a berth to the quadrennial meet.
Former national shotgun shooter Raul Arambulo, who has been monitoring the two Pinoy shooters in the Doha meet who are his close friends, said Topacio and Ang have decided to head straight to the ISSF World Cup starting May 1 in Baku, Azerbaijan instead of returning to Manila first.
