Mexico still alive in the Compound Mixed Team ranking!

 
The recurve and compound teams shot in the morning, while the mixed teams took the field in the afternoon. All the teams shot the traditional 24-arrow matches (4 ends of 6 arrows, best total score wins), while the mixed teams shot 4 ends of 4 arrows.  Recurve Men One upset in the first round of recurve men’s team eliminations: No. 14 seed Russia beat No. 3 Italy in a close match. Russia led 109-108 after 12 arrows. It was tied at 162-162 after 18 arrows and finally the Russians won 212-211. The USA-Australia match was even closer. The Americans led 115-111, but the Australians tied at 220-22 menaing the three members of each team had to shoot one arrow for a shoot-off. USA scored 27, beating Australia’s 26. In another close match No. 15 seed Great Britain gave some resistance to No. 2 seed India. Half-time score was 108-107 and it ended at 218-216 in favour of India.   In the quarterfinals Russia was halted by China. The Chinese team led 107-104, 161-159 and won 217-210. Japan had a close match with Chinese Taipei and finally prevailed 54-54, 160-159, 215-212. Korea beat Ukraine 111-107, 168-164, 227-220. India beat the USA 225-208.   It does not happen often if at all: Japan rousted the Korean dream team! Usually it is quite the opposite with Korea against any team. Not this time around. Japan took an early lead 57-52 and did not let anything go after that, scoring 9-10-10-10-9-9 (57), 10-10-10-9-8-8 (55) and 8-10-8-9-10-10 (55). In the meantime Korea scored 54-56-54. Final score 224-216 for Japan! In the other semifinal, India started with 58 points and continued with 10-10-9-9-9-8 (54). That gave them a 113-107 advantage over the host China. The Chinese team came back with 10-10-10-9-8-8 (55), while India shot 53. The score was 166-162 for the Indian team and they controlled the match with a nice final end of 9-10-9-9-9-10 (56) to win 222-214.   Recurve Women In the first round five lower seed teams beat the higher seeds! Japan beat India 105-107, 213-212. Denmark defeated Germany 104-101, 206-205. Georgia won over the USA 112-106, 216-211. Russia beat Great Britain 107-104, 213-206. Mexico and Ukraine had to go a shoot-off. Mexico led 108-105 at the half. Ukraine tied it at 208-208 and won the shoot-off 27-22.   The Ukrainians did not get past the next round. China proved to be too strong for them and won 109-100, 160-155 and 214-207. Georgia continued on its winning way against Russia. The Georgians led 96-95, 147-143, 195-190. The scores were higher for Korea and Chinese Taipei. The Koreans beat Japan 211-200 and Chinese Taipei prevailed over Denmark 212-192.   Chinese Taipei tried to hold onto Korea in the semifinal. They trailed 53-55 and then 107-111. The Koreans stayed consistent to increase their lead 167-158 and won the match 223-212. In the other semifinal, China dominated Georgia 55-49, 110-102, 161-150, 213-202.   Compound MenOnly two 1/8 elimination round matches were shot. Malaysia took the lead over India from the first end (56-50) and went on to win the match 224-218. Russia easily defeated Hong Kong 227-216.   In the quarterfinals, the US team of Braden GELLENTHIEN, Reo WILDE and Rodger WILLET Jr. took the advantage over Malaysia in the first end (58-56) and increased their lead to 3 points at the halfway mark (114-111). After trailing 167-170, Malaysia faltered in the last end and lost the match 221-230. The match between Australia and New Zealand was much tighter, with a tie at 113-113 after two ends. Australia gained a slight advantage in the third end to lead 171-170 and won the match 228-225. Iran trailed South Africa 56-57, but came back to lead 112-109 and 170-163. Their last end was not so solid but they managed to keep a 1-point advantage and win 224-223. Finally, Russia and Great Britain tied at 57-57 and 111-111. The British archers upped their level in the second part of the match to lead 162-170 and win 217-226.   In the semifinals, the USA and Australia started with a tie 58-58. The USA, winners in Porec and Ogden this year, were expected to win, but the Australians emerged as winners, 230-226! The other semifinal featured Iran and Great Britain. Iran trailed 56-58 but came back at the end of the match to tie 224-224. In the shoot-off, the British archers were perfect with 10-10-10, while Iran had one arrow out of the gold for 29. The gold medal final will be between Australia and Great Britain, while the USA and Iran will fight for the bronze.   Compound Women As in the men’s category, the competition started with two matches in the 1/8 elimination round. India had an easy victory over New Zealand 216-200, and Australia qualified over Hong Kong, 208-194.   In the quarterfinals, the USA had an easy match over India (59-52, 115-106, 173-161, 226-218). The team from Iran met Mexico and took the lead in the first end (58-56). The archers from Iran kept the lead throughout the match (112-108, 169-167) for a final victory of 225-221. Great Britain took a 1-point lead over Malaysia (55-54) which they slowly but surely increased from end to end (108-106, 164-160). The British team won 220-216. The tightest battle was between Australia and Russia. The Australians led 57-56 after the first end, but lost 5 points to trail 109-113 after 12 arrows. Russia maintained their lead through to the end and won 229-224.   In the first semifinal, the world team champions Russia lost to Great Britain 225-228 despite leading 58-54 after the first end. The other semifinal was between Iran and the USA, who won the team competition at the Ogden World Cup. Here the Americans took a 3-point lead in the first end (57-54). They increased the gap to win 224-218 and advance to the gold medal final against Great Britain. The battle for the bronze medal will be between Iran and Russia.    Recurve Mixed Team In the 1/8 elimination round, the leader from qualifications Korea (KI Bo Bae/LEE Chang-Hwan) won their match with the highest total of the round against Denmark, 150-139. The second best performance came from the Russian team. The pair of Ksenia PEROVA/Baljinima TSYREMPILOV tied France 74-74 halfway through, before taking the lead 112-111 and winning the match 146-144. Ukraine and Chinese Taipei were tied after two ends at 71-71, but the Ukrainian pair shot more consistently to win 144-143. Mexico led India by a tight margin throughout the match and won by just a point, 144-143. China had a comfortable victory over Italy (144-139). The USA scored 144 points to beat Malaysia (135), and Great Britain defeated Mongolia 141-137. The closest match of the round was between Germany and Japan. The teams were never more than 1 point apart during this match that ended in a tie at 143-143. In the shoot-off, both pairs shot 18 points. Four more arrows were shot, and the Germans were the winners.   In the quarterfinals, Russia seriously threatened Korea’s prospects to make it into the medal rounds. PEROVA/TSYREMPILOV led 35-34 but Korea came back at 70-70. The Russians reacted by recovering 2 points to lead 106-104. The match ended with a shoot-off. The first Korean shot a 10 followed by an 8 from Russia. The second Korean archer clinched the match with another 10. In the other matches, the pair from Ukraine took the lead over China from the start for a comfortable win 37-35, 74-68, 110-104, 148-140. The USA and Great Britain tied after the first end (38-38) but the American pair built a good 6-point advantage in the second end (77-71). They retained their lead (112-104) and won the match 148-142. Mexico trailed Germany 36-38 but managed to tie come back and qualify with a score of 149-145.   In the semifinals, the leaders Korea met the 2009 World Champion pair from Ukraine consisting of Victoriya KOVAL and Viktor RUBAN. Korea built a 2-point margin over Ukraine in the first end (38-36), which they kept throughout the second and third ends (75-73, 112-110). The Korean pair concluded the match on the score of 150-145 to defeat KOVAL/RUBAN. The other semifinal was shot by the USA against Mexico. The USA had Khatuna LORIG, probably the most experienced archer in the country, and Jake KAMINSKI, the rising star of the American scene. The match started in a tie at 38-38, and Mexico took the lead in the second end, 76-74. They improved it to 112-109 after the third end, but the USA came back at the very end of the match: 146-146. In the shoot-off, both teams shot a first series of 19 points. The young Jake KAMINSKI didn’t falter in the second part of the shoot-off and had a 10. Mexico scored 17 points, and LORIG concluded with a 9 to give victory to her country. After coming from behind, the USA will shoot against Korea in the gold medal final. With thes results USA also ensured its place for the Mixed Team show-down against Great Britain at the Edinburgh World Cup Final.   In the bronze medal match, the Ukrainian pair of Victoriya KOVAL/Viktor RUBAN took a 3-point lead from the start and increased the gap all the way to victory, 149-137. It’s the bronze medal for Viktor and Victoriya!   Compound Mixed Team There was a big match in the 1/8 elimination round between the Netherlands and Denmark. The Dutch Team (Peter ELZINGA/Irina MARKOVIC) led 72-71 and finally beat Martin DAMSBO/Camilla SOEMOD (DEN).   In the quarterfinals the Netherlands went on to beat the No. 1 seed Russia of Alexander DAMBAEV/Albina LOGINOVA. The Dutch athletes led all the way and won 153-148. In a very important match for the Mixed Compound World Cup Ranking, the Mexican Hafid JAIME/Linda OCHOA trailed the South African Seppie CILLIERS/Jorina COETZEE 111-113 with four arrows to go. With a perfect 40 Mexico managed to tie at 151-151. Shoot-off, one arrow per archer. The Mexicans scored 10-10, while the South Africans scored 10 and 9 that was millimetre outside the 10! Mexico stayed alive! In the other quarterfinals Iran beat Malaysia 153-150 and the USA defeated India 154-150.   In the semifinals, Mexico and Netherlands were neck-to-neck at 39-38, 78-77. Then the Mexicans were nothing but perfect with two ends of 40. They scored a total of 158 point (tying the world record performance) and beat Netherlands who achieved 153. In the other semifinal, Iran scored ends of 39-39-37 and 40 to win against the USA 155-152!   In the bronze final, the USA of Erika ANSCHUTZ/Reo WILDE raised their level a notch with ends of 39-40-38-39. Still the Netherlands managed to be tied with them with only two arrows to go. However, MARKOVIC finished with two 8s, WILDE concluded the match with two solid 10s. The USA won 156-152.   The gold final of mixed teams will be contested on Saturday. In compound mixed teams, it will be Mexico against Iran. If the Mexicans win, they will be go to the top of this category’s World Cup Ranking and go to the Edinburgh Final to shoot against the hosts, Great Britain!   Team bronze and gold finals will be contested on Saturday morning followed by mixed team gold finals.   Vanahé ANTILLE / Didier MIEVILLE World Archery Communication