VIENTIANE – After making their Southeast Asian Games debut, shooters Michaella Padilla and Ruth Ricardo had to rush home Saturday to be able to take their school examinations.

Padilla, 18, is a graduating high school student at Assumption while Ricardo, 20, is a business management student at Ateneo de Manila.

Both members of the National Youth Developmental Program of the Philippine National Shooting Association (PNSA), Padilla and Ricardo could only finish 15th and 16th, respectively in a field of 21 shooters in the women’s 10m air pistol event Friday.

Although all three shooters, including Shanin Gonzales, failed to reach the final, NYDP chairman Nathaniel “Tac” Padilla made a good account of themselves against their experienced opponents.

“They were tense and jittery at first and their scores would show, but they improved as the event wore on,” said Padilla.

A former prodigy – he started collecting medals at the age of 15, Padilla told Michaella, her daughter, and her two other teammates that they were not expected to win medals.

Padilla said given more training and international exposures, the three will become world beaters someday. “They are the future of the sport,” he said.

They belong to the initial batch of 18 shooters who were taken by the NYDP a year and a half ago.

Another set of three shooters will leave for Doha, Qatar next week to try to qualify to the World Youth Olympic Games set in Singapore next year.

Padilla said things were different back then when he made his SEAG debut in 1979.

“At that time, we were a force to reckon with,” said Padilla, citing his father, Olympian Tom Ong, as one of the country’s top shooters. “Also, the level of competition is not as high as today.”

Padilla said that unlike the three shooters, he started to shoot at the age of 11. (Tempo Sports)