INSPIRED TO WIN. Amaya Paz Cojuangco poses after the compound women's individual ranking round in the 18th Asian Games archery competition at the Gelora Bung Karno field in Jakarta, Indonesia on Wednesday. (Photo by Judith Caringal/Radyo Pilipinas 2)
JAKARTA -- Amaya Paz Cojuangco kicked off her campaign in the 18th Asian Games on a high note, finishing seventh among 52 competitors in the ranking round of the archery competition at the Gelora Bung Karno field here on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old Cojuangco shot 698 points in the 72-arrow ciompound women's individual ranking, eight points behind top-seeded Chen Yihsuan of Chinese Taipeh.
Jyothi Surekha Vennam of India was second with 705 points followed by So Chaewon (703), Choi Bumin and Sung Yun Soo (701) and Kim Yunhee (699) of South Korea.
Cojuangco has expressed satisfaction with her score, which is her best output in an international tournament. She is waiting for her partner in the mixed team as only team events are offered in compound.
The men's team of Paul dela Cruz, Earl Yap and Joseph Vicencio were scheduled to compete in the ranking late in the afternoon.
Cojuangco said she is optimistic on her second Asian Games stint after winning the gold medal in the Asia Cup in April. She also placed fourth in the recent World Cup in Utah and finished ninth in the World Games in Poland last year.
Cojuangco is also inspired to win as she is expecting her second child. She was seventh in the individual compound in Incheon four years ago.
Meanwhile, Samuel Thomas Harper Morrison and Francis Aaron Agojo failed to advance to the medal round of the taekwondo competitions at the Jakarta Convention Center Plenery Hall.
Morrison, who won the bronze (-74kg) in Incheon four years ago, lost his quarterfinal match to South Korea's Lee Hwajun, 18-27, in the men's -80kg category.
Morrison, back-to-back SEA Games gold medalist in 2015 (-68kg) and 2017 (-74kg), defeated Tajikistan's Farkhod Negmativ, 19-17, in the round-of-16.
Agojo, on the other hand, hurdled Qatar's Ahmed Dghbas, 41-28, in the first round of the men's -63kg category but he was eliminated by Iran's Mirhashen Hosseni in the next round, 2-24.
Agojo won the silver in the -54kg category (2013) and the -58kg category (2015), and the bronze in the -63kg category (2017) in the SEA Games. He also bagged the bronze in the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
The 19-year-old Hosseini is a first-timer in the Asian Games. He was a silver medalist in the 2017 World Championships in Muju, South Korea and a gold winner in the 2016 Asian Championships in Manila.
Hosseini, who is ranked No. 12 in the world, also played in the Grand Prix in London, Great Britain and Rabat, Morocco last year. (PNA)
