|
Monday, September 05, 2005
Rama: The John and Gerry show
By Karlon N. Rama
Stage Five
NO, IT isn’t about a mean cat and a cuddly cute mouse.
A duo of shotgun shooters from the Kamagong Gun Club Inc. have successfully made it through the pre-qualifying rounds in the Philippine National Shooting Association’s call-up for a team to represent the country in the combat shotgun event in the upcoming Southeast Asian Games.
Gerry Velez and John Peter Meledres clinched the first and second places in the pre-qualification shoot at the Philippine Marines Firing Range in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City last Aug. 27, where they gunned for best time with six other shotgunners from other parts of the country.
It was the last of three pre-qualifying matches.
Gerry, a businessman, and John, a Scubaworld diving instructor, will return to Manila on Sept.10, where they’ll battle it out with 10 others – the winners of the two previous pre-qualifying matches – for one of three vacant slots to the national-shooting team.
A total of 388 gold medals are at stake in the 11-nation biennial games. The bulk of the gold medals up for grabs will still come from athletics with 45 events; swimming with 32 events plus an additional eight from diving; and shooting with 21 events, including Open Pistol (Men and Women’s), Pump-Action Combat Shotgun (Men’s) and Semi-Automatic Combat Shotgun (Men’s).
Expectations are high but the two, who’ve dominated almost all shotgun matches held at the AFP Central Command Headquarters-based Kamagong Gun Club this year, are coolly keeping up with the pace.
The duo trained on a daily basis at the club’s four-bay firing range inside Camp Lapu-Lapu for only a month before the Aug. 27 pre-qualifying match.
John, in a recent gathering, admitted that he and Gerry didn’t go into the match confident and were immensely surprised with earning the top two spots. He said he felt that the training -- while the PNSA was doing a call-up until a month before the Aug. 27 per-qualifier -- wasn’t enough.
He disclosed that it was the support of the other club members, including precision pistol-shooter Glenn Diaz, who he said prepared them psychologically for the match, which made them push through with trying out.
They were also encouraged by the support they got from the City and Provincial Governments of Cebu.
The City Government, through the help of Councilor Jack Jakosalem, took care of the airfare in getting the two to Manila for the Aug.27 match. The Province, through Gov. Gwen Garcia, meanwhile negotiated with Heritage Hotel to allow the two to stay there for free.
Gerry posted the shortest aggregate time of 29 seconds, while John finished a mere three seconds longer in the Aug. 27 competition. Best time among all the pre-qualified shooters is 26 seconds. It belongs to Gerardo Manabat of Pampanga.
Shotgun proficiency, club’s president Col. Ceferino Layao said, is one of the shooting disciplines the club is encouraging its members to get into.
Incidentally, the club is expanding its physical facilities. Plans for the construction of three more bays and the rehabilitation of the four existing ones have already been approved. Work, which will be undertaken by the Angelson Construction Co., will begin on Monday. Costs will reach quarter of a million.
In a recent conversation, he said the club’s members have steadily increased and that the club’s existing four bays can no longer accommodate all.
LOCAL MATCH. Practical-shooting action shifted to the Casey Gun Club in Lapu-Lapu City yesterday as the club played host to a four-stage match that drew some 40 shooters from the various gun clubs in Cebu.
Dino Cinco, the young dynamite from the Cebu Pistol and Rifle Association (CPRA) once again dominated the hotly contested Standard division , bulldozing other more experienced shooters who’ve shot in the category for years.
Dino has been shooting Standard only since June of this year. He traded his Limcat Custom race gun in for a .38 Super, a trophy magnet with some 50 notches in the grip, with a Para-Ordnance pistol in .40 and joined the 3rd Gov. Lyndon Barbers Shooting Championship in early July. He got the gold.
Dino, currently in his junior year at the University of San Carlos College of Commerce, also dominated the division during the practical-shooting match hosted by CPRA the other week, beating local champions Yogi Javier and teammate Roger Uy.
Simon, the proud father, was beaming when we spoke right after the Casey match. Apparently Dino did not come in confident at the start but quickly heated up as gun smoke began to permeate the club’s four-bay outdoor range inside the Tambuli Beach Resort complex.
The winners in the Casey match: (Standard) Cinco, Benson Yu, Javier, Nogie Biagan and Roger Uy, (Open) Chito Hernandez, Habib Diator and Joe Montalvan, (Modified) Ric Bono, (Production) Dino Ang and (Revolver) William Torrefiel.
Meanwhile, the top shooters in the CPRA match include: (Standard) Cinco, Javier, Uy Bob Kahler and Biagan, (Open) Tiak Chua, Ric Bono and Jonathan Chua, (Production) Ang, Adonis Uy and Hernandez, and (Revolver) Ismael Trinidad.
PPSA DISPATCH. We have confirmation for last week’s piece on Ecuador (it came out on Tuesday because I didn’t make it to the Sunday for Monday deadline, in case you didn’t know).
Roman de Borja (sspsa@lycos.com) sent us a bulletin last Friday. He is the incumbent secretary of the Philippine Practical Shooting Association.
“Top Filipino-shooter Jeufro “Jag” Lejano emerged as World Shoot Champion in the Modified division of the recently-concluded International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) World Shooting Championship in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Philippine shooter Danny Torrevillas likewise emerged as the world champion in the Senior Category of the Production division. Iloilo-based Phillipp Chua, on the other hand, landed fourth place in the Revolver standard division.
“During the same event (World Shoot XIV), the Modified division national team fielded by the PPSA successfully defended their world shoot crown and once again became the Modified division team champions. The national team was composed of Jag Lejano (champion), Nelson Uygongco (third), Lyndon Biraogo (fifth) and Joseph Sy (sixth).”
(knrama@sunstar.com.ph)
(September 5, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
