Team Road to London

For some of the athletes this is the most important match they have ever shot thus far in their careers!   In qualifications, each athlete shot 144 arrows for a chance to qualify for the team matches. That means years of dedicated preparations to shoot 432 arrows per team for a maximum of 4320 points. The goal was to be among the top 16 teams in order to shoot the Olympic qualifications matches. On the men’s side, Japan who were 2nd at the last World Cup in Antalya, only qualified at 16th place with 5 more points than Belarus. Other contenders such as Netherlands, Spain or Mongolia did not make it. In the women’s competition, Germany, 3rd at the Porec World Cup had to fight hard to come in on the 16th spot, while contenders such as DPR Korea, Turkey, Belarus, Spain and Mongolia, again, came “so close but so far”.   The first round of matches in the team event were therefore decisive for the Olympic qualifications with eight spots up for grabs for the eight winners. If Great Britain made it to the top 8, a ninth spot would be up for grabs for one of the losing teams. Matches consist of 24 arrows with cumulative scores.   Recurve Men On the men’s side, the No. 3 qualifiers, France, were in a difficult match against No. 14, Malaysia. The French athletes had a bad start with X10-10-9-7-7-6 and trailed 49-51. They kept trailing 103-105 and 159-161 after the next two ends. They finished with X10-X10-10-9-9-9 (57 points) to reach 216 points. Malaysia scored X10-X10-9-9-9-8 (55) and the match was tied at 216-216! Shoot-off - each archer had to shoot one extra arrow.   In fact, there were three shoot-offs across the field (Malaysia v France on the men’s side, Ukraine v Poland and Italy v Georgia on the women’s side). Unfortunately, all of the shoot offs were irregularly conducted by timing control, allowing only 40 seconds instead of 60. Three teams launched an appeal (Malaysia, Poland and Italy). As the timing rules were not correctly applied, the decision of the Jury was to repeat these three shoot-offs based on the fact that these shoot-offs were invalid (please read the official FITA statement).   In the shoot-off, Malaysia scored 9-9-8. Thanks to a 10 from 17 year-old Gael PREVOST, France scored 8-10-8 and won the qualification (26-26, the 10 being closest arrow to centre).   Japan shot against No. 1, Korea. The Japanese actually beat the favourites Koreans in Antalya last month! This time the Japanese applied pressure again and only trailed by one point at the half, 106-107. However Korea were unshakeable this time. They turned up the heat in the third and fourth end with X10-10-10-9-9-9 and X10-10-10-10-10-9 to win the match 223-210.   The match between No. 5 Mexico and No. 12 Russia was also a close affair. Russia led 53-52 and then the match was tied at 104-104. Mexico took a 1-point lead after three ends, 160-159. The Russians finished the match with 10-9-8-8-8-7 for only 50 points in the last end. The Mexicans scored a 6 in their last end but were really solid with their other arrows: X10-10-9-9-9 for 53 points. Victory and Olympic qualification, 213-209.   No. 4 USA was quite solid in their match against Poland with ends of 56, 55, 56 and 56. Poland could only match their opponents once: 52, 55, 53, 55. Victory for the USA 223-215.   No. 6 Ukraine took a commanding lead against Canada at the half, 108-102 and did not let anything slip: 164-158, 217-213.   The biggest clash on paper in the first round was probably the one of No. 7 China against No. 10 India. China took a good lead in the first end 55-51. India closed the gap after 12 arrows, 105-107. The Indian athletes shot really well in the third end with X10-X10-X10-10-9-8, while the Chinese scored 10-10-9-8-8-8. India went into the lead 162-160. BANERJEE-RAI-TALUKDAR finished with X10-10-9-9-8-7. However China was more solid in the last end and did not leave the yellow: X10-10-9-9-9. China finally took victory 216-215!   The Italian hosts had to play a weakened opponent; one of the German archers, Florian FOTO, had a very stiff neck and could not shoot his arrows. Germany therefore only shot 16 arrows and scored a very nice 149 points. Of course, Italy scored more with 24 arrows, 219 points.   The last match was very interesting for all the losers of the first round: Chinese Taipei v Great Britain. Chinese Taipei earned an early lead 54-53. The British turned it over in the second end (54-52) to lead 107-106. They kept a 1-point margin 162-161 after 18 arrows. Both team finished with 10-9-9-8-8-7 and Chinese Taipei fell short. Great Britain won 213-212 and Chinese Taipei will shoot the “Olympic play-off tournament” to try to grab the last Olympic team spot available in Turin.   Recurve Men – the Olympic play-off tournament
  The quarterfinals of the “Olympic play-off tournament” were Japan v Chinese Taipei, Russia v Poland, Malaysia v Canada, India v Germany. Only the final winner would grab the last Olympic spot!   Chinese Taipei was coming off a very close affair against Great Britain and entered a new one with Japan. The Japanese shot one point better in each of the first two ends to lead 107-105. However, they followed up with 9-9-10-8-9-8, while Chinese Taipei scored 9-10-9-9-10-8 to tie the match at 160-160. The Japanese finished strong with 10-10-9-9-9-9. Chinese Taipei missed the yellow only once, but it was once too often ( 9-8-10-9-9-10)! Victory for Japan 216-215.   Poland easily handled Russia 55-53, 112-107, 168-161, 222-217.   Malaysia slightly dominated Canada 55-53, 111-109, 166-164 and increased the gap in the last end, 222-216.   The third archer of Germany, FLOTO, could shoot his arrows this time, but he was definitely not in top shape. India prevailed 52-50, 104-101, 160-150 and 215-203.   In the Olympic play-off semifinals, Japan took an early lead over Poland 53-52. However the Polish team shot superbly for the remainder of the match with ends of 56, 57 and 57. Poland won 222-214.   In the other semifinals, Malaysia shot against and Indian team that seemed out of sorts this week (at the wrong time) after a streak of strong results on the World Cup stage. Both teams actually shot well in this match. India scored ends of 54, 53, 56 and 56. Malaysia had 56, 57, 56 and 56 for one of the higher scores of the day, 225-219. For the second time after the Leipzig 2007 World Championships, India missed out on an Olympic team qualification.   The last two teams standing were therefore Poland and Malaysia, who came so close in the first round. Two teams—one spot! Malaysia took a strong start with 9-9-10-9-10-10 to lead 57-52. Poland came back in the second end with 9-8-10-10-10-10 (56) and trailed 109-111. With another strong end of 55 points, Poland cut the deficit at one single point after three ends, 164-165! They finished with 8-9-9-10-8-9 (53). Malaysia scored 9-8-10-8-9-10 (54) and clinched the last team Olympic berth available in Turin! Congratulations!   There will be three last team spots available at the final Olympic qualifier, which will take place in Ogden (USA) in June 2012.   Recurve Women In the first round (1/8), two matches ended on a tied score; Ukraine v Poland (52-52, 106-106, 159-159, 211-211) and Italy v Georgia (51-52, 101-104, 153-155, 207-207). Therefore the Olympic spots were decided in a shoot-off (please see details on the men’s report).   When competition resumed, Ukraine with MYLCHENKO/SICHENIKOVA/KOVAL scored 8-10-9 in the tie-break. Their opponents from Poland MOSPINEK/LIPIARSKA/LESNIAK shot 9-9-8 and lost the match and the Olympic spot at stake.   In the other shoot-off the host country Italy, with SARTORI/TOMASI/VALEEVA, started with 8 and 7. Team Georgia made up of NARIMANIDZE/DIASAMIDZE/ESEBUA scored 8 and 9 with their first two arrows. As ESEBUA was faster than VALEEVA to release the last arrow and shot an 8, the Italian needed a 10 to tie the match. Holding her nerves perfectly, she scored a 10, handing victory to her team as her arrow was obviously closest to the centre than the best arrow of Georgia. One more feat in the extraordinary career of VALEEVA!   Another interesting match in the first round was between the No. 7 seeded team Great Britain and No. 10 Russia. After the Eastern European representatives took the lead after the first six arrows (51-50), the score was reversed by their opponents; 105-102 for the British ladies at the halfway mark. The Russians, led by the reigning European champion ERDYNIYEVA, recovered the lead with only one end to go at 159-158. They managed to hold their 1-point advantage to the end to upset next year's Olympics host country 214-213. STEPANOVA said after her team's victory: "We were seeded lower than GBR. They were already sure to go to London (note: as the host country, they automatically get three spots), but they did their best all the same. It was a tight match but at the end we won by one point. Enough to clinch the match!" That also meant that there would NOT be any “Olympic play-off tournament” on the women’s side. Only the first round winners (and Great Britain) would go through.   The No. 1 team Korea easily handled No. 16 Germany, 58-49, 110-104, 164-159 and 218-210.   The No. 2 seed China defeated No. 15 Mexico 52-51, 108-105, 161-151, 217-203.   The No. 6 seed Chinese Taipei beat No. 11 Japan 54-52, 107-104, 164-156, 222-206. Chinese Taipei finished with ends of 57 and 58.   The last two matches were tight. No. 12 Denmark trailed No. 5 USA after the first end, 49-54. However the Americans had a low 50 themselves, while Denmark came back with 55. Score was tied at 104-104. The Americans alternated highs and lows in the third end with X10-X10-X10-9-8-5 (52), while the Danish were slightly more consistent with X10-X10-10-9-9-7 (55). They led 159-156. The Americans put together X10-10-9-9-8-8 (54) in a last effort. However, the Danish did not let anything go with X10-10-10-9-8-8 (56). They upset the USA 215-210 and the Americans once again missed out on team Olympic qualifications as happened after the Leipzig 2007 World Championships.   No. 13 France gave No. 4 India a hard time. The Frenchwomen took an early lead 53-51. The second end was tied at 54-54 so France maintained the lead 107-105. They shot a nice third end of 10-10-9-9-9-9 (56), while India shot 10-10-9-9-9-7 (54). France led with 4 points, 163-159! However, India gave it all in the last end with X10-10-10-10-9-8 (57), while France collapsed with 9-9-9-8-8-7 (50). India posted a comeback victory to qualify for the London Games, 216-213.   There will be three last team spots available at the final Olympic qualifier, which will take place in Ogden (USA) in June 2012.   For further results of the team events in Turin please check-out our daily review.   World Archery Communication