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4 | THE CANBERRA REPORTER | November 2016

SPORTS

Bull’s eyes for Australia
PINOZ SCORES GOLD TRIFECTA AT OCEANIA ARCHERY GAMES. ADD A SILVER
By TITUS FILIO
Ang Kalatas
HE hit it right on target to earn
the honour of wearing the
green and gold. Ian Asidera
wore the Aussie jersey at the
2016 Oceania Archery Games
and won for Australia three
gold medals and one silver.
It’s a feat for someone who
tookarchery originally as a hobby.
But the competitive spirit soon
drew Ian to become one of a few
Filipino-Australians doing well in
sports.
“I was so happy when I won
medals for Australia. I was already
very excited when I was included
in the Australian team, I thought
I’ll get lucky but when I was there
(in Tonga) I became more confident
and I started winning,” Ian tells AK
in a recent interview at the Sydney

Olympic Park Archery club where
he trains 20 hours per week.
“It all started as a hobby. Back
in the Philippines I used to do rifle
shooting.
“When I got here in Australia
it was quite tough to get a rifle
shooting licence.
“So four years ago, I thought
I’d probably try archery, I made a
decision to find me an individual
sport and someone pointed me to
the Sydney Olympic park archers
which is now my current club. ”
From rifle and hunting guns to
bow nd arrows, Ian definitely can
spot the bullseye.
While training at the club, SOPA
head coach Ricci Cheah took notice
of Ian’s potentials and pushed him
to seriously consider training for
the sport. SOPA has one of the best
facilities for coaching in Australia.

IAN ASIDERA: Going for gold for Australia at Oceania Games.
Ian took the qualifying rounds in
February and began topping the
local scoresheets. Soon he was
included in the Australian team for
the 2016 Oceania Championships
held in Tonga last April.

PICTURE FEATURE

Ian’s haul in his first international
outing were three gold medals
(Commonwealth championships,
Oceania Championships, Mixed
Match play) and a silver (Oceania
1440).

“You need to be committed but if
you love what you do you won’t
even notice the hours spent on
training. I have loved archery so
sometimes I don’t even notice the
long hours with my bow and arrow
– this is really fun for me, I really
enjoy this sport,” says Ian.
Ian is aiming to compete in the
Masters to be held in Auckland,
New Zealand next year.
“Basta pagsisikapan ko po, sana
tuloy-tuloy na ito,” says Ian.
At the SOPA field, he patiently
shoots his arrows to hit the mark
fifty metres away. He loads, pulls,
aims and releases and the arrows.
It’s a routine he does on and on
under the sun.
Ian migrated to Australia eight
years ago. He currently works as a
nurse, having moved from from his
IT work in the Philippines. n

ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL. IT WAS
SPARKLING IN CANBERRA ALL OVER AGAIN, AND
PINOZ OF ALL AGES CAME TO TAKE IN THE VIEWS.

Rain or sun,
crowds flock
to Floriade
By KYM KUNZE
Story and pictures

many trying to get that
perfect selfie for Facebook or
Instagram.
SPRING has sprung in
At first glance, it appeared
Canberra, and the annual
that there were less flower
floral festival Floriade transformed Commonwealth Park beds than last year on display,
but this was only because the
(pictures at left) again into a
gardens beds had been decolourful burst of a million
signed differently and placed
flowers in October.
in different locations around
This year, Floriade paid tribthe park.
ute to the beauty of gardening
This year’s design, however,
and botanics.
left a few visitors disappointAnd despite the recent rained even though there were
fall, the wet weather did not
more than 100 different types
stop crowds from visiting and
of tulips nestled among a
enjoying the event on openmillion bulbs and annuals in
ing day, Labour Day, October
more than 17 feature gardens.
3, 2016.
There was plenty of shelThe day set out to be wet and ter, food venues, music, and
gloomy, but the sun came out children activities to enjoy
and sunshine prevailed.
while strolling among various
Crowds still flocked to see
displays of tulips and poppies
the spectacular floral array
spread all over the garden
and sculptures on display,
beds. n

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CHRISTMAS IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER

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