Archery World Championships in Leipzig - Team Preview

The 44th Outdoor Archery World Championships, the main Olympic qualifier, will take place on July 7-15 in Leipzig (GER). It promises to be one of the most exciting ever!   With less than two weeks to go, there are three reasons why archers have the highest expectations for these World Championships: Ø      A total of 40 places for Recurve Men and 40 places for Recurve Women at the Beijing Olympic Games will be determined in Leipzig. Ø      With more than 550 archers from 85 countries registered for the event, this is by far the biggest World Championships in modern archery. Ø      With the on-going World Cup circuit, the top archers are now used to being on stage and sold-out stands are waiting for them in Leipzig! The 40 Olympic berths for Recurve Men and Women will be allocated with the following criteria: Ø       The eight higher ranked teams for both Recurve Men and Women (excluding China) will qualify three individual places—a total of 24 each. Ø       The 16 top ranked individuals, from other countries (NOCs) than mentioned above, qualify one place (total 16). All places are attributed to NOCs and not to individuals. There will be subsequent qualifiers early in 2008 to increase the number of archers to 64 men and 64 women.   Thanks to the many world class events since the beginning of the World Cup in 2006, we have a large amount of data to preview before a World Championships. In the next few days, we will run previews of the teams, the individuals and also a simulation of Olympic qualifications. We will look at the results of the seven World Cup stages organized so far, the last World Championships in Madrid and the Olympic Games Athens 2004.   We will start with the teams, as they are the most important way for a country to secure the three allowed places for the Beijing Olympics*.   Recurve Men Events 1st place 2nd place 3rd place OG Athens 04 Korea Chinese Taipei Ukraine WC Madrid 05 Korea India Poland Wcup Porec 06 Italy China Russia Wcup Antalya 06 Japan Great Britain Korea Wcup San Salvador 06 Italy Mexico Great Britain Wcup Shanghai 06 Korea Turkey Italy Wcup Ulsan 07 Korea Italy France Wcup Varese 07 Great Britain Australia USA Wcup Antalya 07 Russia Netherlands Ukraine Team Korea (Madrid 05)   With five victories in the listed events, Korea is the true favourite. However, the Koreans can be beaten, as their recent defeat versus Ukraine at the Meteksan Archery World Cup in Antalya shows. Italy will again send the team of Galiazzo, Frangilli and Di Buo that won in Porec, San Salvador and was second in Ulsan. Russia has been shooting really well recently and so have been Great Britain and the Netherlands. Chinese Taipei is the dark horse, going into the Leipzig World Championships. The outside contenders will be India, China, Mexico, France, Australia, Japan, the USA and Germany. This represents 14 teams that will fight for eight spots—China, the host country, being automatically qualified for the Olympic Games.   Recurve Women  Events 1st place 2nd place 3rd place OG Athens 04 Korea China Chinese Taipei WC Madrid 05 Korea Ukraine Russia Wcup Porec 06 Great Britain Russia China Wcup Antalya 06 Korea China Ukraine Wcup San Salvador 06 Turkey Italy China Wcup Shanghai 06 Korea China Turkey Wcup Ulsan 07 Korea Poland Great Britain Wcup Varese 07 China Poland Korea Wcup Antalya 07 Korea Italy China Team Korea (Madrid 05)   Korea is even a bigger favourite in the women’s category than in the men’s. The “dream team” will be represented by the experienced Park Sung Hyun as well as Choi Eun Young and Lee Tuk Young. China will probably be Korea’s strongest challenger. Poland and Italy must be taken seriously as well. We will have to watch Great Britain, Russia, Chinese Taipei, Ukraine, France, India and Japan—all contenders. The question mark is Turkey—will their athletes regain their form of 2006? Germany will be tough to beat with the support of their fans. Again, there are at least 12 teams fighting for eight places.   Compound Men  Events 1st place 2nd place 3rd place WC Madrid 05 USA Norway Australia Wcup Porec 06 USA Great Britain Netherlands Wcup Antalya 06 Denmark Netherlands France Wcup San Salvador 06 Netherlands Brazil USA Wcup Shanghai 06 USA Mexico China Wcup Ulsan 07 Iran Great Britain France Wcup Varese 07 USA France Iran Wcup Antalya 07 France Denmark Great Britain Team USA (Madrid 05)   The USA is the current World Champion and the favourite in this category. However, France has reached a really high level and showed it at the recent Meteksan Archery World Cup in Antalya. Some other contenders have a strong chance, such as Great Britain, Netherlands, Denmark, Iran and Brazil. Other countries like China, Mexico, Norway, Australia, Spain and Switzerland are hoping for good results as well. Unfortunately, the compound division is not part of the Olympic program and the teams will be shooting for medals, not for Olympic positions.   Compound Women  Events 1st place 2nd place 3rd place WC Madrid 05 France USA Denmark Wcup Porec 06 France India USA Wcup Antalya 06 Russia Croatia Mexico Wcup San Salvador 06 Mexico Great Britain USA Wcup Shanghai 06 Russia USA Philippines Wcup Ulsan 07 Russia USA France Wcup Varese 07 France Russia USA Wcup Antalya 07 USA Russia Italy Team France (Madrid 05)   Russia is the favourite but it will be a very tough battle among five teams. Although the USA will field a younger team than usual (Van Natta anchoring Anschutz and Nicely), it will still be a very strong contender. France has been a rising force this spring with a victory in Varese. Italy has received a lift from the young talent Anastasio, while Mexico will always be good with the two sisters Ochoas and De la Concha. Other contenders include: Philippines, Great Britain, Croatia, India and Venezuela.   Please follow our web coverage on www.archery.org for the build-up to the 44thOutdoor Archery World Championships in Leipzig.   Didier Miéville FITA Communication   * For sake of clarity, we used the common appellation of the countries.