By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Former Philippine National Shooting Association (PNSA) President Luis “Chavit” Singson is appealing to the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) to look into the roster of the national shooting team bound for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China late this month.
This development came after Singson noted that some athletes included in the list were not qualified for the prestigious quadrennial event.
“Naba-bother kami kasi nagpapadala sila ng hindi qualified. Yun lang ang concern namin. May qualification yan, qualification score,” the former Ilocos Sur governor said in a small press briefing on Thursday, Sept. 14.
Singson, who appeared with former national shotgun shooter Raul Arambulo, added they wanted to see how the athletes were selected.
They noted the exclusion of one promising athlete in pistol shooter Carlo Valdez, who consistently topped the PNSA men’s air pistol qualifiers, including an impressive performance last Aug. 6 and 13 where he emerged on top with scores of 576 in the 10-meter and 558 for the free pistol 50m.
He has also equaled the 27-year-old national standard of Fil-American Jomike Gonzales with a score of 584 in one of PNSA’s monthly eliminations.
On paper, these performances tied the runner-up qualification score of 584 set by South Korean Jin Jong-Oh in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.
Valdez had also proven his mettle in his international debut, finishing fifth with a score of 573 in the men’s 10-meter air pistol qualifiers of the ISSF Asian Cup Rifle/Pistol competition last March also in Indonesia.
Submission of entry by name to the Asian Games has already lapsed, but the POC was pushing for last-minute changes in the team rosters of certain national associations including the men’s 5×5 squad.
The final delegation registration meeting slated on Sunday, Sept. 17, would determine if the changes will be approved or not.
This wasn’t the first time that Singson and the group have questioned the composition of the PH team in an international meet.
At the ISSF Lonato Cup in Italy last July, which was a qualifying event for next year’s Paris Olympics, the group pointed out the inclusion of some athletes, who wound up with sub-par performances.
Singson and the group are also requesting assistance from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) in obtaining the copy of the annexes that was part of the investigation report done for the alleged missing containers of clay targets.
The said clay targets were bought from the contributions of the shotgun shooters.
