Daniel Henares clinches gold in Benchrest Rifle Championship

DANIEL ‘Danby’ Henares dominated the 2018 Quarter Benchrest Rifle Championship recently with a gold and silver medal in as many events at the Marine Range in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City. Two days after the San Miguel Beermen captured their fourth straight Philippine Cup crown last week, Henares, the assistant team manager of the Beermen, stepped out of his basketball shoes and went into shooting bay to win the Heavy Varmint class. He posted a leading score of 720 points to grab the gold medal in the Philippine National Shooting Association competition. Although the competition is joined by a lot of shooters, Henares rose to the occasion and ignored the pressure to start the competition on a high note. “I always worry when a lot of shooters sign up. But I was very fortunate to lead after the first shooting card,” said Henares, noting that Benchrest rifle shooters are renowned for their accuracy. Benchrest shooters are required to shoot a 1-mm bullseye at 50 meters and they usually hit it with 90% success. “The wind is the only enemy for a well tuned rifle and it started to blow by the third and last shooting card,” added Henares, who bested second placer Jun Bernardo ( 713.18) and third placer Gene Manalastas (708.18). “But in the last shooting card, all the scores had dropped and I was able to maintain my lead.” Henares, who was the winningest shooter in the Benchrest rifle competition, also added a silver medal in the light Varmint class after scoring 720.22 points. None Alvero grabbed the gold with 726.27 points while Nick Lagustan settled for bronze with 713.16 points.