Korea, the United States and Russia win gold!

The team finals were shot today at the World Archery Championships in Ulsan. Korea took the gold in both the recurve men’s and women’s competitions. In the compound division, the US men were untouchable, and in a dramatic match the Russian women took the gold medal over Korea.
Recurve Men   Gold Medal: Korea vs France This final featured the leader and the runner-up from qualifications! The Koreans, who earlier this week broke the FITA round world record, were the overwhelming favourites in this match against the French team, who are currently in 4th place in the World Cup ranking list. The Koreans looked untouchable entering into this final. Their team is the defending champion from Leipzig 2007 and 2008 Olympic champions. Korea also celebrated great success recently by winning the World Cup events in Antalya and Shanghai this year!
The two teams have met twice in the last few years: in the semifinal of the World Cup event in Ulsan 2007, where Korea won 217-201, and in the final of the Shanghai World Cup event last month, also won by Korea, 216-207.
In the team final in Ulsan, Korea shot first and scored 9-9-9. France had a perfect start with a 10, followed by another 10 and a 9. France took an early lead 29-27). Korea then scored 9-9-x10. Jean-Charles VALLADONT (FRA) was bothered by the wind and scored only 7, followed by two 8’s from his teammates. Romain GIROUILLE (FRA) scored his last arrow with 1 second left. Korea led 55-52.
France made a very good come-back in the second end at 10-10-10, to which Korea answered with 9-10-9. The Frenchmen then scored x10-7-10, for a total of 57 points. The Koreans shot 9-x10-9 to lead by 2 points, 111-109.
France started superbly in the third end with another x10-x10-10! With scores of 10-9-10, Korea led by only 1 point at this stage. France then shot 9-9-8, while Korea followed with 8-10-9 to lead 167-165.
France went on shooting very well in the last end: 10-8-10. Korea probably started feeling the home crowd pressure and shot only 8-8-9. France continued with 9-9-9, leaving the door open for Korea. IM Dong-Hyun started with a 10, LEE Chang-Hwan shot another x10 to which the crowd cheered loudly and so OH Jin Hyek needed a 9 to win. He shot a 10 to give Korea the gold over France, 222-220!
Today we had the top archer Crispin DUENAS (CAN) joining us for the commentary. He gave us his opinions on the matches, “The Crispin Corner”: France performed much better than expected today. In the third end they might have been thinking about their previous three 10s and their focus could have been elsewhere rather than on their current shots. Korea was more consistent than France in their shooting. France lost most of their points with 8s and 7s and Korea only had three 8s. With the match being decided in the last three arrows, France deserves big congratulations for almost upsetting Korea in front of their home crowd.
Bronze Medal: Japan vs China This was a final between the No. 6 seed China and the No. 12 Japan. China was third at the 2008 Olympics, but only 4th in Antalya and 8th in Shanghai at this year’s World Cup events. The last time these teams met was at the 2006 World Cup Stage in Antalya, where Japan won in the semifinal 222-212.
In the bronze medal final in Ulsan, China took an early lead (28-25) over Japan after the first three arrows (China: 9-9-10, Japan: 7-8-9) but the scores of the next three arrows were exactly the opposite and the two teams tied at 52-52.
China raised their level in the next end with 10-9-9-9-10-10 for 57, while Japan scored only 51 (7-8-9-9-9-9). China led by 6 points, 109-103. Japan answered with a perfect score of 30. China then shot only 9-9-8 but were still in the lead by 2 points. After their very good beginning in the third end, Japan might have been too excited. They closed the end with 10-7-8, followed by 9-7-8 on the Chinese side. Japan recovered 1 point to trail 158-159.
Japan started strongly in the final end: 9-9-10. China shot 9-7-9, which gave the Japanese a 2-point advantage at this stage! Japan shot a good 8-x10-10 in their final arrows, meaning China had to score 10-10-10 to tie. They only shot 9-10-9 and Japan won the bronze medal, 214-212!
Crispin’s corner: Japan started off to the left, just like every other team. Overall Japan had a rough start, then they came back to prove their dominance in the last two ends, whereas China faltered in their final two ends to give Japan the bronze.
Recurve women   Gold Medal: Korea vs Japan This final was a battle between close neighbours! Korea, the No. 1 seed from qualifications, was the favourite for this final against the No. 14 (!) seed Japan. As with the men’s team, the Korean women are the winners from Leipzig 2007 and the 2008 Olympic team champions. Also, they placed first this year at the World Cup events in Antalya and Shanghai.
Japan qualified for the finals both in the men’s and women’s recurve categories, despite their mediocre performance in qualifications. The women’s team recently placed 4th at the Summer Universiade in Belgrade and the World Cup event in Turkey.
These teams have had one-on-one matches three times in recent years. Korea beat Japan at the 2006 World Cup Stage 2 in Antalya by 225-210, but had more difficulty at the 2007 Asian Championships. The two teams tied at 217-217, before Japan lost in the shoot-off 24-27. Finally, the most recent Korean victory over Japan came this year in semifinals at the World Cup event in Antalya.
In the first end, the scores were tied after the first three arrows: 9-9-8 for Korea, 9-8-9 for Japan. Korea continued with x10-10-9, and Japan 9-9-10, the last arrow being just on the line. Korea led by 1 point, 55-54.
Korea increased their lead by 3 points after 9 arrows, with scores of 9-x10-9 (Japan shot 9-9-7). Japan kept losing ground, managing only 10-8-9 while Korea scored a perfect 10-x10-10! Korea led 113-106 halfway through the match.
In the third end, Japan scored 8-9-8-8-x10-9 while Korea shot 9-9-8-9-10 in their first five arrows. The last Korean archer shot with only 10 seconds to go and she scored a 10 to give a 10-point lead to her team!
Japan was inconsistent in the final end, concluding with 10-7-7-10-x10-7. Korea scored x10-9-9-9-9 to clinch the gold with one arrow to go. The last archer YUN Ok-Hee shot a perfect x10 to win the gold by the highest margin of the day, 224-209!
Crispin’s corner: The gold medal left KWAK Ye Ji in tears! Korea shot very well despite the wind, while Japan had four straight arrows in the 7 ring. The Koreans only had two arrows out of the gold. Congratulations to Korea!
Bronze Medal: Belarus vs Russia
Another match between two neighbours featured the No. 12 and No. 14 seeds from qualifications! What a surprise to find Belarus at this stage of the competition. This country has not medalled in recent years. As for the Russian team, they qualified this year for the final at both the Antalya and Shanghai World Cup events – but lost twice.
In their finals for the bronze medal, both teams shot a lot of bad arrows in the first end. Russia started with a 6 as a consequence of the wind. The scores for Russia were 6-8-10-6-7-9, while Belarus shot 8-4-8-7-7-9. Russia led 46-43.
The two teams got over their nerves in the second end and started shooting like they usually do, both opening with a perfect score. Belarus shot 10-9-x10-9-8-9 and Russia x10-8-10-9-6-9. The game became very close, Russia leading by 1 point, 99-98.
Belarus came back strongly in the third end, scoring 10-7-9-9-9-x10 while Russia shot 8-9-8-9-7-9. Belarus took the lead over Russia, 152-149.
Russia recovered the lead in their next three arrows (9-9-7) mainly because of two bad shots from Belarus (9-6-6). The Russians concluded the match with 10-10-10 to clinch the bronze medal before the Belarusians even shot their last three arrows. The final score was 204-199.
Crispin’s corner: Both teams started off very shakily then got over their nerves in the second end and started shooting like they usually do. Russia faltered in the third end with no 10s, but came back strongly in the final end, finishing with a 10-10-10 to take the bronze. It looked like Belarus just felt the pressure in the last end.
Compound Men   Gold Medal: Russia vs USA
This was a match between experience and youth! Reo WILDE and Braden GELLENTHIEN of the USA entered this final as defending world team champions, while Russia competed in their first ever final in a World Championships in this division. The Americans were in great shape, having won the World Cup event in Santo Domingo earlier this year and the Summer Universiade in Belgrade, where they defeated Russia in the semifinal (Russia went on to win the bronze). In Ulsan, the Americans won the qualifications with 4179, almost 50 points better than the runner-up Russia who shot 4130 but everything would start from zero in the final!
The USA started with 10-10-9. Russia scored 10-9-9, shooting to the left of the target. Their last arrow was just out of the 10 ring. USA followed with a perfect 10-10-10. The Russians answered with 9 and 10. Russia’s last shooter had only 13 seconds left, and he shot a 9. The USA took a 3 point-lead, 59-56.
The scores of the next end were 9-x10-9-9-x10-8 for Russia and 10-10-9-9-10-x10 for the USA. As a result the USA increased their lead by 2 points, 116-111.
The USA lost one point of their advantage in the next end, scoring 10-x10-10-9-8-9, while the Russians improved from their previous score (9-10-10-x10-10-9, total 58). The USA led by 4 points, 173-169.
The young Russian team had an almost perfect last end, scoring five 10s in a row! The last archer shot an 8. The USA started with a 9 but followed with five 10s of their own. The USA won 232-227!
Crispin’s corner: The USA have set their sights and shot a lot of 10s. They showed their enormous amount of experience and shot to their full potential. The wind did not bother them as much as Russia felt it. I suspect the Russians will become a good team, especially with a silver medal at the World Championships. Their future looks bright!
Bronze Medal: El Salvador vs Finland It was a long road for Finland who made it from 13th in qualifications all the way to the bronze medal final! Their opponents El Salvador were seeded No. 3. There are no major achievements from these teams, except a bronze medal won by El Salvador at the 2009 World Cup event in Santo Domingo.
Finland opened the bronze medal final with 9-9-8-9-10-9 (total 54) to lead by 1 point over El Salvador (10-9-8-9-9-8, total 53).
The archers from El Salvador improved in the second end, scoring 10-10-9. Finland shot only 9-9-9, one point less than El Salvador who maintained their level with 10-9-10, to which Finland answered with 9-10-10, the second 10 being just on the line. El Salvador led by 1 point, 111-110.
Finland lost 2 more points over the next three arrows: 9-9-9 to El Salvador’s 10-9-10. Finland were still shooting to the left in the third end. They scored 10-9-10, while El Salvador managed x10-10-9. Interesting fact- out of 6 arrows Jorge JIMENEZ shot only one 9 and five 10s! El Salvador led 169-166.
Both teams amassed 27 points in the first three arrows of the fourth end. Finland shot their last three arrows first : 9-9-10. JIMENEZ scored x10, followed by a 9 by Rigoberto HERNANDEZ. The third archer from El Salvador Roberto HERNANDEZ needed a 7 to win, and he shot a 9! El Salvador won the bronze, 224-221.

Crispin’s corner: Finland’s first shots were all on the left due to the wind, while El Salvador’s were centred. El Salvador has lots of experience, so it was a tough match for Finland. But Finland still shot well. Finland might have had more pressure while El Salvador shot how they always shoot.
Compound Women   Gold Medal: Russia vs Korea Korea, the leader of the qualifications and the runner-up Russia made it to the final! This compound final was the first ever for Korea in a World Championships. Russia is the recent winner of the 2009 World Cup events in Antalya and Shanghai. Korea is in good shape too, having won bronze at the recent Summer Universiade in Belgrade.
In this final, Korea started with 9-10-10 (29), and Russia 9-8-10 (27). Korea followed with 10-10-10 to the delight of the spectators. Russia was really feeling the pressure and shot only 7-8-9. The Russians trailed Korea 51-59.
Korea didn’t do as well in the next end, scoring 8-9-10-9-10-9 for a total of 55. Russia shot 10-9-8, then 9-8-10. With their total of 54, the Russians lost another point to Korea. Korea led 113-105.
In the third end, Korea started with a 6. The second archer crossed the line before the first archer returned from the shooting line, causing them a line penalty. Their first three arrows were 6-9-9, while Russia scored 9-7-8. The Korean girls then paid the high price for their previous line mistake. The second Korean girl shot with only 20 seconds remaining as a consequence of the time penalty and she shot a 10! The third Korean came to the line with only 6 seconds left and her last arrow didn’t even hit the target. Korea scored 9-10-0. After this incident the Russians regained their confidence to score 10-10-10. Russia led 159-156.
Korea concluded the match with 10-10-9-9-8-7, while Russia increased their advantage with 10-9-9-10-9-9, final score 215-209. Russia is the new team world champion!
Crispin’s corner: Russia was nervous because Korea had the home crowd. Russia looked uncomfortable in the beginning and the scores showed it, but after the unusual turn of events Russia came back with more confidence and the eventual win. That’s bad luck for Korea but extremely good luck for Russia. Korea was leading by 8 points after 2 ends, and usually 8 points is a lot! The time penalty proved to be too much for Korea to handle.
Bronze Medal: Mexico vs USA This match featured the USA, No. 3 seed from qualifications, and the No. 5, Mexico. The US team had won the bronze in Leipzig and was hoping to repeat this in Ulsan! The two teams met in March at the World Cup event in Santo Domingo where the USA defeated Mexico in the final, 227-225.
The USA started this World Championships final with a 10-9-8 to take the lead over Mexico, who scored 8-9-9. The USA followed with 9-9-8. After Almendra OCHOA shot an 8, Mexico had two arrows to shoot with only 20 seconds left. Ana CRISANTO scored a 9, while Linda OCHOA shot just in time and it was an 8. The USA took the lead 53-51.
Mexico continued to have problems with the clock in the following end. They scored 8-9-8-10-9-8- for a total of 52, while the USA was stronger with 8-9-10-10-9-x10 (total: 56). The USA increased their lead by 6 points, 109-103.
In the third end Mexico started shooting left and scored 9-9-8-8-9-8. The USA were almost perfect, scoring 10-10-x10-9-10-10!
Mexico recovered one point after the first three first arrows of the last end (10-9-x10, USA 10-10-8). The Mexicans concluded with 9-9-8, not enough to come back. The USA scored 9-8-10 to win the match, 223-208.
Crispin’s corner: The USA won. Mexico just wasn’t shooting well with the wind.
After the team finals, the archers still have to compete in the individual finals in the recurve and compound divisions tomorrow.
Vanahé ANTILLE / Crispin DUENAS FITA Communication