USA to shoot for both recurve golds

The recurve individual eliminations went down in more of the blazing sunshine that has characterised this World Cup. With many of the big Asian recurve nations absent or fielding alternate teams, the draw was wide open.

The USA men had taken the top three spots in the ranking round of 82 men, so there was an early shock as Collin Klimitchek of the USA, who had placed first with 678 in the ranking round on Wednesday, fell to Russian Beligto Tsynguev in the third round and his first match (he had received the standard two-round bye for placing in the top eight).

“I just didn’t shoot enough tens.” he said afterwards. “He shot a better match than I did. I made some shots I shouldn’t have, misread the wind on one, and it just added up. My timing was a little bit off, and they just weren’t going in.”

The USA men also seeded first for the team rounds in Wroclaw. ”I’ll just put about thirty or so arrows in tomorrow morning, get a feel for my shot again, get the focus back.”

Most of the top men made it through the third round, but the fourth round saw many big names fall. Brady Ellison lost to Dai Xiaoxiang of China in a shoot-off. Zach Garrett beat Marcus D’Almeida of Brazil, who was philosophical in defeat:

“I shot well, but Zach shot better. We’ve been away from home for almost a month and a half, so we are all feeling there are things to work on, but we can’t because we’re always on the road. I’m feeling okay, my mind is still pretty clear. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It’s a new day.”

Crispin Duenas, riding solo here without a team, fell to Antonio Fernandez of Spain. Afterwards, he said: “I shot well, the other guy shot better. I mean, in the third set, I lost with a 29, and the nine was just a millimetre or so out. But he had a thirty. I feel good because I shot it well, so it’s kind of bittersweet. I don’t think the World Cup Final is on the cards for me this year, unfortunately.”

The wind picked up as the quarterfinals got underway. Zach Garrett continued his run and beat teammate Sean McLaughlin in straight sets to setup a semi with Mauro Nespoli. Anton Prilepov of Belarus booked a second medal match of the weekend by beating the Russian Galsan Bazarzhapov.

In the semis, Jean-Charles Valladont dominated a rattled-looking Prilepov in swirling wind. It was a gutsy performance. “To be honest that match wasn’t as difficult as the first, because I got a bye through to the third round. I am coming in cold, and they’ve already got their head into the competition,” he said.

It’s a great result for a beleaguered French recurve team, who had a terrible world championships where they failed to qualify any places for Rio.

“I actually took a break between Copenhagen and now. I went to a small place in the country, just fishing and my girlfriend. I just shot maybe 100 arrows a couple of times, to keep the physical and technical side working,” Valladont explained.

“The last match went really well, because I left myself no chance of not being in the gold medal match. I’ve been second and I’ve been fourth [at World Cups] and there is no possibility of a bronze for me now. I was shooting for the final.”

Zach Garrett came through a tough semifinal to win the chance of facing Valladont last thing on recurve Sunday in Wroclaw.

“Since Copenhagen, I’ve been working on a couple of little form things and mainly my mental processes,” Zach said. “At the worlds, I struggled a little on qualification day, and that always sets you up for a tough bracket. Here I shot about as well as I could on qualification day, and got a more solid bracket."

“I shot against some really good guys today, but it all happened, and my mental game was definitely strong. Every match I was nervous, but I was fully invested in it. I was just trying to keep control of myself as best I could. This is my first World Cup individual finals match, so I’m pretty excited.”

There was plenty of drama on the women’s side of the field too. Aida Roman - in the gold medal mixed team match on Sunday - fought through two shoot-offs before losing consistency and eventually falling to 2011 world silver medallist Kristine Esebua of Georgia in the quarterfinals.

Perhaps the biggest story of the day was Ayano Kato of Japan, competing in just her third World Cup after Shanghai 2014 and Antalya 2013.

None of the other Japanese archers had made it past the third round, but she managed to edge out an in-form Deepika Kumari in a shoot-off, and did the same to Ana Maria Rendon in the quarters.

Already in the medal matches, she managed to beat Elena Richter of Germany 6-4 in the semis.

On Sunday, she will face Mackenzie Brown of the USA who shot consistently though a strong field to make the gold medal match.

Afterwards, Mackenzie said: “The toughest match was the last one [against Kristine Esebua of Georgia] which went to five sets. Just knowing you’re so close to the gold medal matches.

"But I just relaxed a little, tried to stay grounded and shoot my best. Previously I’ve felt I’ve been putting a little too much extra pressure on myself, so to come to a competition, really relax and shoot my best is all I’ve been asking for. “