BUENOS AIRES — Filipino archer Nicole Tagle got a consistent partner in Hendrik Oun of Estonia to advance to the quarterfinals of the mixed international team event in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.
The pair of Tagle and Oun defeated the lower-ranked duo of Isabela Bassi of Chile and Ravien Dalpatadu of Sri Lanka in a shoot off, 5-4, to set up a meeting with Alyssia Tromans-Ansell of Great Brittain and Reza Shabani of Iran in the succeeding phase of the Olympic-round format.
“I have a good partner in Hendrik. To advance, we have to be consistent again in the next round,” said Tagle, who had a combined score of 19 points against the 17 points of Bassi and Dalpatadu in the shoot off.
Tagle and Oun gave Bassi and Dalpatadu the first set of the 16-arrow four-set before seizing the next two frames for a 2-1 advantage to the delight of Filipino crowd that includes chef de mission Jonne Go and Josephine Joy Reyes, head of the Philippine Sports Commission’s medical and scientific athletes services department.
Both, however, shot a pair of 7s in the final set, allowing their opponent to storm back by scoring 36 points to force the playoff.
Ranked fourth in the mixed event, Tromans-Ansell and Shabani crushed Wian Roux of South Africa and Himani Himani of India, 5-1, to also make into the quarterfinals.
No. 13 in the rankings, Tagle and Oun will shoot 16 arrows in four sets during the quarters and hope that Tromans-Ansell and Shabani fumble along the way.
The prized archer from Dumaguete City is aiming to follow the footsteps of Gab Moreno, the first Filipino to win a gold medal in the Youth Olympics after teaming up in a triumphant performance with Li Jiaman of China in the 2014 edition of the Games in Nanjing, China.
Tagle, silver medalist in the women’s recurve individual competition during the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, will again meet Tromans-Ansell in the women’s individual round of 16 on Monday (Tuesday in Manila).
Christian Tio will again wait for the winds to blow strong at the Club Nautico San Isidro for the races to resume and improve on his performance in men’s kiteboarding.
At fifth overall, the Filipino-Norwegian will miss the trip to the podium once organizers decide to cancel the races on the final day.
Golfers Yuka Saso and Carl Janno Corpus fired a combined effort of 4-under 66 to join five other countries at 16th place at the start of the mixed team competition at the Hurlingham Club. (PSC-POC PR)
