UNDERLINING his status as a strong medal prospect in next year’s 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games, shooter Carlo Valdez bagged a gold and silver, respectively, in the men’s individual 50-meter and 10-meter pistol events against elite rivals in the Thailand Open Shooting Championship at the National Shooting Center in the Thai capital of Bangkok over the weekend.

Competing in his first overseas meet in over a year, Valdez, 23, ruled the men’s 50-meter air pistol with 549 points on rounds of 93-88-90-94-90-94, relegating India’s Cheema Arjun Singh (546) to the silver while Thailand’s Noppadon Suttruviruch (545) settled for the bronze.

After finishing fourth in the qualifying round of the men’s 10-meter air pistol with a score of 570 points, Valdez showed his true mettle and resiliency by securing the silver with a total score of 195.4 points in the finals.

In the trip backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, the shooter finished second behind hometown bet K. Sudkhet (240.) while Singh copped the bronze medal (175.).

Valdez’s bid for another podium finish fell short yesterday after he and sister Christine Deanne placed third in the qualifying round of the 10-meter mixed team event with a score of 535 points.

“Close fight but no luck in mixed team. Not the right time yet,” said the siblings’ mother and Philippine National Shooting Association pistol board representative Maricon Valdez, who was with them in the competition.

“Given his performance, I am so proud of Carlo and sees him being our top medal contender in the shooting event in the Thailand Southeast Asian Games next year. This is a good sign from him,” said former national shooter Raul Arambulo, who has been monitoring the progress of the shooter for quite some time.

The Thailand Open Shooting Championship was meant to be a dress rehearsal for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games that was to be hosted by Thailand in November but this was belatedly scrapped for lack of substantial support from the Thai government.