JAKARTA—Hagen Topacio found his touch when it was too late and ended up sixth in shooting’s trap of the 18th Asian Games at the Jakabaring Sports City Range in Palembang on Monday.
Topacio, who had finished for a tie for fifth place with Chinese-Taipei’s Yang Kungpi in the eliminatation with 118 points each, missed the three of his first five shots in the medal round and was the first to bow out in the six-man finals with a score of 18 points out of 25 targets.
Ironically, the Pinoy marksman had earlier beaten the Taiwanese, 5-4, in the shoot-off for sixth place, but with the latter finding himself in a zone in capturing the gold medal with a world record-tying score of 48 points out of a possible 50.
India’s Lakshay Lakshay took the silver with 43 points, while South Korea’s Ahn Daemyong settled for bronze with 30 in the event witnessed by Philippines Deputy Chief of Mission Manny Cabili and Philippine Olympic Committee auditor Jonne Go, who had just arrived just a few hours before the event in this South Sumatran provincial
“I couldn’t get my proper rhythm in the first 10 shots and only found in my last 10 shots, so that’s the story of the finals,” said Topacio, who still looked upbeat despite the loss.
“I feel somewhat vindicated kasi nakapag-finals ako,” added the shooter, who had forgettable outings during his appearances of the 2010 Guangzhou and 2014 Incheon editions of the continental sports showcase.
Topacio declined to blame the shooting conditions, saying: “The range is fantastic, the weather is fantastic. If we miss that is on us shooters.”
Earlier, Jayson Valdez and Amparo bowed to superior opposition and failed to go beyond the eliminations of the men’s and women’s 10-meter air rifle event, respectively.
After five rounds, Valdez languished in 17th place out of 44 entries with a score of 618.6 points, which, however, was a new national record for the bespectacled shooter.
A 2017 Malaysia Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist, Acuna was mired in 40th spot in a field of 45 shooters with a paltry tally of 603.7 points.
Both of them hope to improve on their respective performances in the 50-meter rifle three-position on Tuesday.