Two New World Records in the Mixed Team Eliminations in Antalya

 
The mixed pairs competed in matches of 4 ends of 4 arrows from the 1/8 elimination rounds all the way to semifinals and bronze medal finals. The morning was marked by two new world records in the Recurve and Compound 16 Arrow matches. The overall level of shooting was extremely high.   Recurve Mixed TeamThe morning session started with the 1/8 elimination rounds. Surprisingly, the no. 16 qualifier, Turkey, led the leader from qualifications, Korea 37-36, after one end. However KIM Woojin and KI Bo Bae recovered in the second end to lead by 1 point, 75-74. Both pairs shot 38 points in the third end. Korea still led by 1 point, 113-112. In the final end, Korea shot 37, while Turkey shot 10-9-10-8, the second arrow being just one millimetre outside of the 10 ring. If not for that, Turkey would have tied. Instead they lost the match 149-150. In their match against Russia, Italy scored the highest total of the first end (39). They led 77-72 halfway through, then 115-106 after the third end. Mauro NESPOLI scored a bad 4 in the last end, but Italy still won 149-145. Mongolia also started with 39 against the Ukraine and kept their high level of shooting to win the match (39-36, 76-74, 115-111, 151-150). Mexico led Great Britain 37-36 but then trailed 70-72, 104-106 and 141-143. The USA had a good start against Spain and increased their lead throughout the match (38-35, 74-70, 113-106) for an easy win 148-138. France trailed China from the start and lost 36-38, 71-76, 107-113, 146-151.   Korea shot superbly in the ¼ elimination round, scoring two ends of 40 to defeat Great Britain 38-36, 78-74, 118-111, 156-142. With 156 points, they set a new world record at 16 Arrows! In their match against the USA, Mongolia kept shooting as high as they had in the previous round: they took the lead 38-37, but the USA came back at 74-74. In the third end, a bad 7 caused the USA to lose 3 points and trail 109-112. They went on to lose the match 146-149 against Mongolia. Poland and China were tied at 72-72 halfway through their match. In the third end, China shot 9-10-9-10 while Poland shot 9-10-7-9. China led 110-107 and went on to win 148-141. Finally, Italy and India tied after their first end (37-37). KUMARI/TALUKDAR took the lead 76-75, but scored only 9-9-8-10 in the third end. Italy shot 9-9-10-9 to tie at 112-112. In the final end, India scored 10-10-9-9. Natalia VALEEVA shot two 10s but NESPOLI shot only 7-8, which cost his team the match.   The semifinals featured four teams from Asia. In their match against China, Mongolia had a bad start (9-8-8-10) to trail 35-37. They recovered 1 point in the second end (10-9-10-9 against 10-9-X-8). China led 74-73. An 8 in the third end caused Mongolia to trail 110-112. Finally, China shot 9-9-X10-9 for a total of 37. Mongolia shot 9-10-9-10 (38), not enough to come back in this match. China won 149-148. In the other semifinal, Korea and India started with a tie at 38-38. The Koreans shot 9-10-10-9 while the archers from India shot 9-9-9-10 in the second end. Korea led 76-75. Both teams scored 38 points in the third end, moving the score to 114-113 for Korea. After three ends at 38, the Koreans were less consistent in the final end, shooting 9-8-9-9. India maintained their level at 38 (9-10-10-9) to upset the new world record holders 151-149!   Korea faced Mongolia in the bronze medal final. The Koreans shot ends of 40-37-40-37, while Mongolia had weak scores from the start, 36-33-36-35. Korea won the match 154-140 and the bronze medal. India and China will shoot for gold on Sunday afternoon.   Compound Mixed TeamAn interesting match featured the two finalists from World Cup stage 1 in Porec; the USA and Slovenia. The game started with 40 points from both pairs. Slovenia then shot 10-10-9-7, while the USA scored 9-9-9-X10 to lead 77-76. The scores of the third end were 10-9-9-10 by the USA, 8-X10-10-10 by Slovenia (38 each). The USA still led by 1 point, 115-114. The USA were perfect in the final end (X10-X10-X10-10), leaving no chance for Slovenia to come back. Christie COLIN and Braden GELLENTHIEN won the match 155-151. Italy shot the highest scores of this round to easily defeat Turkey 39-37, 79-73, 117-111, 156-148. With 156 points, they broke the world record of the 16 Arrows set at 155 last year in Antalya by the Russian pair! In the other matches, France led Mexico 38-36, 76-73, 115-110 for the final win 153-147. Netherlands beat Germany by 1 point, 39-37, 78-76, 117-115, 155-154. Denmark beat Great Britain 153-149, and Iran defeated Norway 145-139. Russia beat South Africa 155-147. Sweden had a tight match against Belgium. The pairs tied at 38-38. Sweden gained a 1-point advantage in the second end (76-75) and were able to keep it through the end to win 152-151.   The USA started their ¼ elimination round against the Netherlands with eight perfect scores to lead 80-77. However the Dutch archers came back with a perfect score in the third end to tie at 117-117. The USA shot 10-X10-9-10 in the last end, while Netherlands lost all hope of a medal with 10-9-9-8. The USA won 156-153, tying the world record that had just been established by Italy in the previous round. Denmark led France 40-38, 76-75, 117-115, but some bad arrows in the last end (10-9-8-6) allowed the French to win the match 152-150. Italy defeated Sweden 40-36, 77-74, 116-112, 155-150. Iran fought hard against Russia. The pairs tied at 39-39. The Russians shot a 7 in the second end, allowing the Iranians to pass them with 10-9-10-9 (77-76). Russia came back in the third end with 40 points (Iran shot 39). Tie 116-116. Iran shot X10-X10-10-9 in the last end, enough to defeat Russia 155-153.   In the semifinals, the USA took the lead from the start against France, 39-38. Their second end was perfect, allowing them to lead by 3 points, 79-76. The scores of the third end were 38 for the USA and 37 for France, while both teams shot 38 in the last end. The USA won 155-151. The match between Iran and Italy was very close. Iran started with 39 but Italy did even better with 40. They scored 39 in the second end to beat Iran’s 38 and lead 79-77. However the pair of Majid GHEYDI/Parsamehr MAHTAB came back in the third end (39), while Italy scored “only” 8-9-X10-10, ending in a tie at 116-116. In the final end, Italy shot 10-9-10-10 to beat Iran’s 10-9-9-9 (155-153). With their total of 155 points, Italy were only 1 point short of their own new world record.   The bronze medal match featured Iran and France. The French dominated the match from the beginning to the end (39-37, 79-75, 115-113, 153-149) to win the bronze medal. The USA and Italy will fight for the gold Sunday on the beautiful beach of Antalya.   The competition continues in the afternoon with the individual elimination matches of the four international categories up to the semifinals.   Stayed tuned on www.worldarchery.org!   World Archery Communication