Golden archers

By CLYDE MARIANO

JAKARTA – Archery giving the embattled Philippine side another gold medal in the three-man archery compound event Thursday in the26th Southeast Games couldn’t have come at a more opportune time.

Powered by the deadly troika of Earl Benjamin Yap, Rosendo Sombrio and newcomer Dean Adriano, the Filipinos crushed their Malaysian counterparts in the 50-meter winner-take-all match to help sagging spirits.

Yap, Sombrio and Adriano collected a total of 225-221 in the final frame.

The Filipinos scored two perfect 10s in the second and fourth frames to typify their superiority over the Malaysians, more than making up for loss of Jennifer Chan, Joan Tabaniag and Rachel Cabral in the quarterfinals.

“Yung hindi inaasahan ang nag-deliver,” said the veteran Tabaniag.

After a fourth place finish in Laos two years ago, the trio savored their triumph.

“Truly exciting,” said Sombrio, an architect and the most senior in the team at 51.

“Earl and I have been playing as a team since 2003. This is the first time Adriano joined us, but he played a big role in our victory,” added the father of three.

Adriano replaced Fermin Baranachea who failed to qualify in the elimination. The Pasig native proved to the coaching staff that they made the right decision.

Yap, a veteran of the Asian Grand Archery in Malaysia, also won the bronze in the 50 meters individual event.