The shooter Cuban Juan Miguel Rodríguez reached the silver medal in the skeet event of the qualifying tournament for the Central Caribbean Games in San Salvador 2023, official media report.
During the test, held at the Polígono Nacional Nilo, in Cundinamarca, Colombia, the Island’s gunmen won three individual tickets, as well as a collective quota for the regional multi-sport event.
The experienced Rodríguez, Olympic bronze medalist in Athens 2004, finished second in the qualifying phase with 116 hits in five rounds of 25 each. He then dominated his semifinal with 25 goals, tied with Puerto Rican Miguel Pizarro, according to review the website Hit.
Already in the decisive instance, the Cuban had another relevant performance and only gave up the title against the Guatemalan Carlos Padilla, in a very tight dispute that ended 31-30, favorable to the second. The bronze went to the neck of Mexican Carlos Segovia (22).
Juan Miguel wins silver, three places in skeet for San Salvador 2023 In the decisive segment, the Cuban once again showed himself at a high level, to the point of losing the title 30-31 against Guatemalan Carlos Padilla. #Cuba #shooting #sport’s shot #sansalvador2023 https://t.co/cqJrt7jrV2 pic.twitter.com/MR8jsxjnzm
— JIT Cuban Sport (@jit_digital) May 15, 2022
The other Antilleans in the competition, also veterans Guillermo Alfredo Torres and Servando Puldón, failed to advance to the medal discussion, finishing the qualifying segment in 12th and 19th place respectively. However, they took over their quotas for the San Salvador event, since their mere presence was enough for them to get one of the 22 ballots handed out at the event.
As for the team fair, Cuba anchored in fourth place after falling in the bronze medal discussion against Guatemala with a 7-3 scoreline, according to the sports publication. The crown went to Puerto Rico, superior in the final with a score of 6-2 over the Dominican Republic.
However, all these casts booked a ticket for next year’s Central Caribbean event, in which the island’s gunmen will try to get on the podium in both modalities.