Girvin and Gyneth Garcia shone brightly on the penultimate day of the 1st Asean Youth Archery Championships at the Dynamic Herb Sports Complex in Cebu City on Friday.
Elder Girvin stunned Olympus Archery Club teammate and national archer Jonathan Reaport, 6-5, in the pulsating semifinals en route to a ruling in the men’s 70-meter Under-21 recurve Olympic round event.
Reaport and Garcia were tied in the first round at 29 for a point each and deadlocked at 5-all after the next four rounds, extending the match to a thrilling sudden-death shoot-off.
Reaport shot first and scored a 9, but Garcia matched the feat with his arrow, however, landing just slightly closer to the bullseye. This secured him the victory in the nerve-wracking encounter with a score of 29-29, 26-27, 27-26, 29-27, 9+ to 9, allowing him to enter the title match of the tournament.
Buoyed by the epic win, the bespectacled Garcia shut out the University of Baguio Archery Club’s Keith Reinan Nawew 6-0 (29-25, 26-23, 26-25), securing a deserving gold medal in the competition.
Not to be outdone, younger sister and OAC teammate Gwen outclassed the University of Baguio Archery Club’s Michiko Gonzales (668–661) in topping the women’s under-18 compound event.
There was also a surprise upset in the women’s under-21 recurve Olympic round finale, with OAC’s Charlene Santos dumping fancied teammate and world youth meet veteran Ada Lagrada 7-3 (25-25, 26-25, 27-24, 29-25, 26-25).
Sharing the limelight was Cebu Archery Club’s Aldrener Igot Jr., a protégé of World Archery Philippines secretary general Dondon Sombrio, who whipped OAC’s Benjamin Aurellano 6-0 (29-21, 26-25, 28-23) in topping the men’s Under-18 Olympic round contest.
But Palarong Pambansa standout Naina Tagle, carrying the colors of Stars and Arrows Archery Academy, suffered a stinging 4-6 (27-29, 24-26, 30-28, 27-26, 25-23) loss to Pro Archery Club’s Safa Halfa Hasibuan in the battle for the gold in the women’s Under-18 Olympic round event.
“This must be my best Olympic round performance I’ve had so far in my career, knowing that I shot my best and Jonathan also shot his best,” said Garcia of his spine-tingling outing with Reaport in the semifinals.
“This was also something of a comeback for me. It is really a blessing from God because I didn’t expect it,” added the 31st Vietnam Southeast Asian Games veteran, who got cut from the national team after his inconsistent performance as he struggled to balance his studies and archery career.
“This is all too surreal for me because I did not expect to win. I just trusted God,” said the younger Garcia.
She revealed that winning the gold was a belated birthday gift after turning 16 just last August 12.
