Amaya Cojuangco’s Asian Games silver medal may have been the Philippines’ breakthrough on the continental stage. Still, for the country’s archery program, it also served as a validation of a coaching overhaul built around Korean excellence.
Weeks before the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, national coach Ryu Sujeng gathered the Philippine archers for a briefing and presented images of the competition venue at Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park, going over the details they would encounter in Japan.
Then came a blunt warning.
“If I don’t get a medal in the Asian Games, I will just go back to Korea and leave you. I have never lost a medal in a tournament,” Ryu told the team.
The message immediately raised the stakes for a national pool still adapting to the demanding Korean training system.
Cojuangco, however, used the pressure as motivation.
The result was a silver medal in the women’s individual compound event, giving the Philippines its first Asian Games archery medal since Paul Dela Cruz captured bronze in 2014.
For Philippine archery, the podium finish ended a 12-year wait for an Asiad medal and provided the strongest indication yet that the Philippine Sports Commission’s decision to bring in Korean coaches Ryu and Hong Sung Chil is beginning to bear fruit.
“Bringing coach Ryu into the national archery program stands as one of our most decisive and transformative moves, and the Asian Games performance has emphatically affirmed that,” said PSC Chairman Patrick Gregorio.
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Ryu arrived in the Philippines with an impressive résumé, having helped South Korea win five Olympic gold medals, including two at the 2016 Rio Games and three at Tokyo 2020.
Her championship expectations have since become part of the Philippine team’s daily environment.
Gregorio said the objective in bringing in Ryu and Hong was straightforward: expose Filipino archers to the standards and methods used by one of the world’s most successful archery programs.
“If you want the best results, you should hire and bring the best coaches on the planet. This is exactly the mindset we had when we hired coaches Ryu and Hong,” said Gregorio.
World Archery Philippines president Bing Reaport likewise credited the Korean coaches for helping raise the standards within the national pool.
“We’re thankful to the PSC and Chairman Pato for bringing coaches Ryu and Hong. It is different if you have a coach who has a champion mindset, someone who knows how to push the team,” said Reaport.
With the Asian Games now providing tangible proof of progress, the Philippine archers have already turned their attention toward an even bigger objective: earning a spot in the mixed compound event at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Ryu has identified Cojuangco as one half of the planned mixed team, with Mateusz Vaughn Johnson set to join her in the Olympic qualification campaign.
The 18-year-old Johnson, who hails from Davao City, has already shown his potential after sweeping three individual gold medals and winning the U18 Compound Men’s Championship at the Singapore Youth Archery Championships three months ago.
The road to Los Angeles will be a grueling one, with the Filipino pair expected to navigate a series of international events where ranking points and Olympic qualification spots will be at stake.
Their campaign is set to begin in Shanghai with the opening leg of the 2027 Hyundai Archery World Cup in mid-April, followed by stops in Antalya, Turkey, in early May, Tijuana, Mexico, in June, and Madrid, Spain, in July.
For Cojuangco, the target is ambitious but attainable.
“Hopefully we can make it to LA. We will try to qualify either through the Olympic qualifiers or ranking points through these tournaments,” said Cojuangco.
