BEIJING—Crispin Duenas, the other Filipino in the archery competitions of the 2008 Beijing Olympics but who is Canada’s best bet here, opens his own campaign for a gold medal Wednesday.

Duenas takes on Sweden’s Magnus Petersson on the same Olympic Green Archery Field where the round-of-64 knockout phase would be staged.

“He [Duenas] has a very good chance,” said Canada head coach Joan McDonald. “We will be thrilled if he lands in the Final 8, because anything can happen from there.”

“I’m here to win,” said the five-foot-seven Duenas, whose mom would be watching him compete over Solar Sports’s Olympic feed because she is now in Malabon.

Duenas is currently ranked 54th in the world and No. 1 in Canada. He is every inch Filipino and proudly says he loves chicken adobo. His Scottish girlfriend Alana McDougall, Canada’s No. 4 female archer, is a virtual transformed Filipina—she loves lumpia, which Duenas’s dad loves to cook in their Ontario home.

Harry a little overweight

BEIJING—Harry Tañamor went 400 grams over the light-flyweight limit of 48 kg, which worried Manny Lopez, the Philippine boxing chief, but not Cuban coach Enrique Tissert.

RP’s ‘strongest’ bet has 3 Olympics ahead of her

BEIJING—Hidilyn Diaz stares you in the eyes, ponders a bit on a query you throw at her, and again stares you in the eyes before answering candidly with a charm and a smile typical of the Filipino probinsyana.

‘May laban tayo’

BEIJING—Mark Javier is not your typical athlete.

He’s five-foot-10, but looks frail because he’s actually five-foot-11. Add his shyness and, lo, you would not mistake him to be one of only a few Filipino athletes competing in these 29th Olympics.

Swimmers are an ‘easy’ lot

BEIJING—Swimmers are easier to attend to than any other athlete, according to Dr. Martin Camara.

Camara, the Team Philippines chiropractor, told the BusinessMirror swimmers have the natural tendency to feel and determine which part of their body needs attention.

Among the Best

BEIJING—Michael Phelps spends his days at the Olympics wolfing down pizza and pasta, dodging text messages from friends and climbing to the top of the all-time winners’ list.

For tennis players, Olympics lack luster

BEIJING—Quite often, the prevailing question about Olympic tennis is not so much who won or who lost, but why bother.

Fil-Canadian archer debuts

BEIJING—Crispin Duenas, the other Filipino in the archery competitions of the 2008 Beijing Olympics but who is Canada’s best bet here, opens his own campaign for a gold medal Wednesday.

Ask Coach E: For the world to see

Parents are a sentimental lot. Remember that time when we record almost everything that happens to our sons and daughters?