BEIJING—Archer Mark Javier goes back home to his native Dumaguete City without a medal hanging on his neck. But he definitely would pack beautiful experiences from his first Olympic stint.

“It’s an experience like no other. Kahit na natalo ako, nakakuha ako ng magandang experience. Like playing in front of a big crowd,” said the 26-year-old Javier.

Javier crashed out of the men’s individual 70-meter round of 64 competitions Wednesday, losing to Chinese Taipei’s Kuo Cheng Wei, 106-102, before a jam-packed crowd at the Olympic Green Archer Field.

The 25-year-old Kuo, a 205-pound bachelor from Taipei, made two consecutive bull’s-eyes worth 10 points each in the 11th and 12th arrows of the fourth and final frame to bundle out the Filipino. The win pushed the Taiwanese to the quarterfinals.

“He’s a very good archer. He’s young with a lot of tournament victories already,” said Javier of Kuo.

Jennifer Chan, the former Olympian and Javier’s coach, was mum about her ward’s performance and simply smiled when sought for an assessment of Javier’s performance.

Javier and Kuo were tied at 86-all after 10 arrows when the Taiwanese hit bull’s-eyes in the 11th and 12th arrows to the Filipino’s pair of 8s. Their match lasted barely half an hour.

Kuo lived up to the Taiwanese expectations. The five-foot-nine archer led Taipei to the team title and won the individual crown in the World Cup in Sto. Domingo, with Dominican Republic, last year.

“Kakaiba pala ito. Iba talaga ang feeling, especially if you’re shooting in front of so many people. Dito palakasan ng loob. Ngayon ko naramdaman,” said the soft-spoken Javier, who used his old reliable 44-pound red bow.

Javier, actually, gave his rival some scare. He led, 50-49, after six arrows as the Taiwanese faltered with a 5 on his sixth arrow, while Javier made a nine.

But Kuo won’t yield any further. He hit a 9, 9 and a 10 in the third frame as against Javier’s 9, 8 and 10 for that 87-all count with three more arrows to go.

Javier was only the third Filipino to compete in the Olympics. Chan was the first in Sydney in 2000 and Jasmine Figueroa qualified for the Athens Games in 2004. 

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BEIJING—Archer Mark Javier goes back home to his native Dumaguete City without a medal hanging on his neck. But he definitely would pack beautiful experiences from his first Olympic stint.

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