MANILA -- National rifle shooters Amparo Teresa Acuña and Jayson Valdez will compete in two World Cups next year to prepare them for the Asian Games.
Acuña and Valdez, as scholars under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Solidarity Program in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, are assured of slots in the Philippine delegation bound for the 18th Asian Games slated to be held on Aug. 18 to Sept. 2 in Jakarta and Palembang in Indonesia.
The World Cup in Changwon, South Korea will be held on April 20-30 while the World Cup in Fort Benning, USA is scheduled on May 7-15.
The two shooters will be accompanied by national coach Julius Valdez, Jayson’s father.
"These tournaments are really hard to win. But my scores and my teammate's scores during practice meet could surpass the world standard, so all we need to work on is how to bring it to these competitions," said Acuña, who is looking forward to her first Asian Games. She spends four hours training daily at the Marine Range in Taguig.
Acuña, a sophomore taking up International Studies at Miriam College in Quezon City, holds the Philippine records in the 10-meter Air Rifle, 50-meter Prone, and 50-meter 3 Positions.
This year, she won one gold medal (50-meter Prone) and two bronze medals (10-meter Air Rifle and 50-meter 3 Position) at the 41st Southeast Asian Shooting Association (SEASA) Championships last May.
Acuña also bagged a bronze medal in the 2017 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in August.
In the Philippine National Shooting Association Open, she captured one gold and one silver (team) in 2011, two silvers and a gold (2012), two golds and a bronze (2014), two golds and a silver (2015), and three golds (2016).
In the Philippine National Games, she won one gold in 2013 and three golds in 2014. (PNA)
