Cebuana archer Densil Shane Dinopol. CDN Digital photo | Mars G. Alison
PUERTO PRINCESA, PALAWAN—Densil Shane Dinopol loves swimming.
At 5, the Cebuana from Banawa, Cebu City learned how to swim. The student-athlete of the Matilda L. Bradford Christian School then went on to compete in multi-sporting events, the last being the Central Visayas Regional Athletics Association (CVIRAA) Meet in 2018.
Dinopol made quite make a splash in the pool but she noticed the competition was getting tougher.
So she decided to try something else.
This is when she set her sights on archery.
Dinopol narrated that she got interested in archery from watching on television Korean archers, who are known to be among the best in the world.
Dinopol said she found archery to be a “good sport” to try. So she made the switch.
“I just wanted to try it and [now] I am also happier that I am doing archery,” said Dinopol.
Her decision paid off.
The lone girl in the Cebu City Niños archery team bagged one gold medal and a silver in the recently concluded 2019 Batang Pinoy National Championships here.
In all, the grade 8 student who joined the archery grassroots program in 2017 has since accounted for one gold medal, 11 silvers and three bronze medals from the Batang Pinoy and Cebu City Olympics competitions.
She won six silver medals in her first competition—the 2018 Cebu City Olympics. She then followed it with four silver medals and three bronzes in her first Batang Pinoy Visayas Regional Championships last March in Iloilo before bagging a gold and a silver in the Batang Pinoy Nationals here.
It seems Dinopol has indeed found a new love in archery.
We can’t blame her for the making the shift. After all, she believes the sport has taught her a lot of things that can improve her as a person.
“I learned patience, balance and focus. And, that if you really want to reach your goal, just practice harder and your hardwork will pay off,” said Dinopol, whose father, Diben, was a former varsity table tennis player of the University of Cebu (UC).
So what does she hope to achieve as an archer? Dinopol is aiming high.
“In God’s time and in God’s will I hope I will be part of the Philippine Team.”
Although she has fallen in love with archery, Densil admits that she still loves swimming and still hits the pool from time to time. But at the moment, her focus is on archery.
She’s not closing the door entirely to her first love, though.
“Pero wala lang ta kabalo sa panahon kay mao baya gud na ang ako first sport and favorite hobby sad nako, since baby pa ko,” she said.
(But time can’t tell because that is, after all, my first sport and it is my favorite hobby since I was little.) /bmjo