Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 29) – The 14-strong Philippine shooting team will aim for a gold performance in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam in May.
In the lineup shared by the Philippine National Shooting Association to CNN Philippines, Tokyo Olympian Jayson Valdez leads the roster of shooters seeking to surpass their 2019 SEA Games medal haul of three golds, three silvers, and one bronze.
Valdez will compete in his pet event 10-meter air rifle, the same category where he represented the country in the Tokyo Olympics.
The 26-year-old Olympian shooter is also listed in the 50-meter rifle 3 Positions and air rifle mixed team competitions.
Joining Valdez in the air rifle mixed team are Amparo Acuña, Denise Basila, and Sean Ocampo.
Ocampo will also compete alongside Valdez in the men’s 10-meter air rifle event, while Basila will join in the same category for women. Acuña will join Basila in the women’s 10-meter air rifle event and is also listed in the women’s 50-meter rifle 3 Positions.
In the pistol category, seven Filipino shooters will target a medal finish.
Angela Dimaculangan and Franchette Quiroz are both lined up at the 10-meter air pistol individual, 10-meter air pistol team, and air pistol mixed team events.
Carlo Valdez will compete in the 10-meter air pistol individual and air pistol mixed team events.
Robert Donalvo and Ronaldo Hejastro round up the Philippine shooting pistol team as they will contend in the 25-meter standard pistol event.
Meanwhile, in the trap event, 2019 SEA Games gold medalists Eric Ang, Carlos Carag, and Hagen Topacio will not defend their title in the men’s trap team event as only individual events will be played in Vietnam.
Ang, Carag, Topacio are slated for the men’s trap individual event, where Carag brought home a silver in 2019.
Ylvana Paula Dy and Valerie Levanza will take part in the women’s trap individual event in Vietnam. The Filipinas ruled the women’s individual and team events in 2019.
The 31st SEA Games shooting competitions are slated from May 16-22.
