Amaya Cojuangco came tantalizingly close to gold but ultimately settled for silver in the Women’s Compound Individual event of the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Archery competition after falling to Indonesia’s Nurisa Dian Ashrifah, 144–143, on Thursday at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square.
It all came down to the final two arrows after the first four ends ended in a 110-all deadlock.
Ashrifah piled on the pressure with a bull’s-eye on her second-to-last arrow, and Cojuangco responded with a nine. Another 10 from the Indonesian was enough to deny the 40-year-old Filipina the gold.
Still, Cojuangco’s silver marked a historic achievement for the Philippines, as it was the country’s first silver medal in archery in Asian Games history and its first medal in the sport since the 2014 edition in Incheon, South Korea.
Paul Dela Cruz won the Philippines’ first Asian Games archery medal when he defeated Malaysia’s Zaki Mahazan, 140–139, in the bronze medal match of the Men’s Compound Individual event at the 2014 Games.
Cojuangco advanced to the gold medal match after upsetting South Korea’s Park Jungyoon, 142–141, in the semifinals earlier in the day.
The University of the Philippines alumna came blazing out of the gates with a perfect 30 in the opening end and built on that strong start to book her place in the final.
