Members of the Philippine archery team paid a courtesy call on Philippine Sports Commission chairman Pato Gregorio on Wednesday following their remarkable showing at the recent Singapore Youth Archery Championships held at Bukit Gombak Stadium.
Gregorio welcomed the Filipino archers, who proudly displayed the medals they won in the three-day tournament for athletes aged 18 and below. He was joined by PSC commissioner Edward Hayco in receiving the delegation, which consisted of 21 archers, five coaches, and five team officials.
The Philippines finished with an impressive haul of 13 gold, 10 silver, and seven bronze medals, underscoring the country’s emergence as a force to be reckoned with under world-class coaches Ryu Su Jeng, who guided South Korea to five Olympic gold medals across the 2016 and 2020 Games; and Hong Sung Chil, a gold medalist at the 1999 World Championships.
“This is the resurgence of Philippine archery,” said Gregorio, who described the team’s performance in Singapore as a “perfect bullseye.”
“It’s time to bring back the glory days of Philippine archery. Para sa bayan ito,” said World Archery Philippines head Bing Reaport after the tournament, which featured participants from China, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Laos, and host Singapore.
Winning gold medals on the final day were Mariano Matteo Medina in the Under-15 Recurve Men’s division, General Marc Bangoy in the Under-18 Recurve Men’s division, Leila Jell Cano in the Under-18 Recurve Women’s division, Mateusz Vaughn Johnson in the Under-18 Compound Men’s division, and Abigail Lim in the Under-21 Compound Women’s division. Chass Mhavien Colas and Zac Zayco added silver medals in the Under-18 Recurve Men’s and Under-18 Compound Men’s divisions, respectively.
