Three US Teams Will Shoot for Gold in Antalya

 
Recurve archers shot 4 ends of 6 arrows at 70 metres, while in compound the matches consisted in a new Compound Round (4 ends of 6 arrows at 50 metres). The US teams displayed their great form by qualifying for three out of four gold medal finals. They will face Korea in Recurve Women, Denmark in Compound Men and Iran in Compound Women. In Recurve Men, Japan upset Korea and will shoot the gold medal match against France. Last but not least, the morning was marked by two new world records in Compound.   Recurve MenThe No. 1 team Korea defeated Germany 54-53, 112-104, 167-156, 224-208. The No. Mexico also had an easy match, beating the No. 15 Malaysia 224-214. The No. 3 France had more difficulty against the No. 14 Poland. GIROUILLE, PREVOST and VALLADONT led by 1 point in the first half (54-53, 110-109). Poland did 9-9-X10-8-8-8 in the third end, while the French shot 9-9-X10-9-8-8. In doing so, they gained one more point to lead 163-161. They won the match 217-215. The No. 13 Spain led the No. 4 China 52-51, but the Chinese came back at 107-107. The Spaniards recovered 1 point in each of the last two ends to win the match 216-214. The USA qualified over Australia (53-55, 106-106, 160-158, 216-211), and Ukraine beat the Netherlands 217-205. The Italians, who are Olympic silver medallists, lost their match to Great Britain, 204-212. Finally, Japan had a tight match against India, trailing 51-54, 103-108. The Japanese came back at 156-156. They shot a strong last end (10-10-8-10-9-9). India started with 10-10-9-8-9 and needed a 10 in their last arrow to tie, which they did. In the shoot-off, Japan shot 10-9-10 and India only 9-10-8. The Japanese advanced to the quarterfinals.   The unexpected happened in the quarterfinal between Japan (No. 8) and the world and Olympic champion Korea. Japan led after the first end 53-52, but the Koreans recovered the lead at the halfway mark, 109-108. The two teams then tied at 165-165. The Koreans missed their last end (8-9-8-9-10-9). The Japanese shot 10-10-9-9-10-9 to win the match 222-218. For the second time in the World Cup this year, the team from Korea will not shoot for the gold medal. In the other matches, the USA won by 6 points against Spain, 214-208. Great Britain (No. 7) led Mexico (No. 2) 159-156, and won the game 214-212. The No. 3 France and the No. 6 Ukraine fought in a close battle. They tied at 53-53 and 164-164. The French were stronger in their last six arrows and won the match 219-218.   Japan kept shooting extremely well and started their semifinal against USA with a strong end of 56 (9-10-9-8-10-10). USA did not have a good start, 51 (9-9-8-7-10-8). The second end was tied at 55-55 (10-9-10-9-8-8 to 9-9-9-10-10-8), so Japan kept the lead 111-106. In the third end, The Japanese kept on pushing and increased their lead to 164-155. The USA made a nice run in the last end with 10-10-8-10-10-9, but Japan sailed safely through the final with 9-8-8-9-8-8. Victory for Japan 215-212. They will be joined in the gold medal final by France who easily defeated Great Britain 57-53, 111-106, 172-161, 226-214.   Recurve WomenThe leader Korea easily defeated the No. 16 Georgia in the 1/8 elimination round (222-203). Turkey, ranked No. 15, fought hard against India, No. 2. The local team led 54-51 after the first end, but India recovered and took the lead 104-103, 160-159. Turkey took a slight advantage in the last end and was in the lead up until the last two arrows, but India turned the score around and won the match 208-207. Despite being seeded No. 3, China was totally dominated by the No. 14 Mexico. They trailed 53-57, 104-113. Despite a good comeback in the third end (156-158), the Chinese archers lost their match 209-220. The No. 4 Ukraine easily defeated the No. 13 Spain, 221-206. Italy (No. 5) and Poland (No. 12) fought in a tight match. They were tied halfway through at 102-102. Italy took a 2-point advantage in the third end to lead 156-154 and maintained this advantage to win 210-208. The No. 6 USA led the No. 11 Great Britain 55-54 after the first end, the US team was inconsistent in the second end, allowing GB to take the lead 108-106. Both teams had weak scores in the third end. The US women shot 8-8-8-9-9-9 and Great Britain did X10-9-9-7-5-8, allowing the USA to recover the lead 157-156. The scores of the last end were higher on both sides: 9-10-9-9-9-8 for the USA X10-9-9-9-9-10. Victory for the USA, 213-210. The No. 7 Russia and the No. 10 Denmark both shot very well in their first three ends. They started in a tie at 56-56, then Denmark took the lead 110-107. The scores were 166-165 after the third end, Denmark tying with Korea for the best total at that point Korea. The Danish archers completely failed in the last end, shooting only 49 points (10-10-8-8-7-6), while the Russians were better and won the match 220-215. Finally, the No. 8. Germany beat the No. 9 Japan 53-53, 107-105, 162-159, 214-213.   In quarterfinals the leader Korea trailed Germany 51-52 after the first end. However the Koreans soon came back at 106-106, and gained a 3-point lead in the third end. They took benefit of weak shooting from the German team to win the match 217-209. The USA defeated Mexico with the highest margin of this round, 210-200. India led Russia 54-50, but shot only 9-9-7-7-9-8 in the second end to lose their advantage. Russia shot 9-9-9-10-9-9 to take the lead 105-103. Both teams shot 50 points in the third end, moving the score to 155-153 for Russia. The archers from India pulled themselves together in the final end with scores of 9-9-X10-10-9-9. Meanwhile Russia had several bad arrows (9-89-7-9-X10) and lost the match 208-209. Ukraine and Italy both started with a weak end, tying at 49-49. The Ukrainians increased their level in the second end, scoring 56 points. Italy shot 49 again to trail 98-105. They came back slowly in the third end, recovering 5 points from their opponents. Ukraine led 155-153, and finally won the match 210-207. Same as in the men’s category, there will be no medal this time for Italy.   In the semifinal, the USA and India were tied after the first end at 52-52. The Americans then took the lead with X10-10-7-10-8-9 (54), while India shot 9-9-8-8-9-8 (51). The scores after the first half were 106-103. However the third end was the complete opposite: 10-9-8-10-7-7 (51) for USA and 9-8-9-8-10-10 (54) for India, resulting in a tie at 157-157. In the last end, the teams shot the exact same arrows (10-10-9-9-9-8) and the match finished in a tie 212-212! In the shoot-off, India only managed 8-8-8, while the USA was sovereign with 9-10-9! The Americans won the right to challenge the Koreans in the final. Korea easily handled Ukraine in the other semifinal, 58-52, 114-103, 168-149 and 221-196.   Compound MenIn the 1/8 elimination round, the leader USA defeated Mexico 229-221. Their score of 229 was matched by South Africa, who beat Sweden 229-225. The No. 2 Denmark shot the best total of this round (236) to defeat Switzerland. Italy qualified over Turkey, 230-224. The No. 4 France took a very good start against the No. 13 Russia, leading 58-56. In the second end, Russia ran out of time and couldn’t shoot their last arrow. France led 113-104 and went on to win the match 227-219. Two matches were very tight. The No. 6 Slovenia and the No. 11 Belgium tied at 55-55 and 171-171. Belgium gained a 4-point advantage in the last end to win 231-227. The No. 8 Iran trailed the No. 9 Great Britain 56-59 and 114-118, but came back at 172-172 before the final end. The Britons were more solid and won the match 229-228. Meanwhile the Netherlands (No. 7) met Germany (No. 10). The Dutch team led by 3 points 59-56, 117-114, and kept their advantage through the third end, 176-173. Somehow the German team made a comeback to tie at 232-232. In the shoot-off the Germans shot first and were superior (10-10-10), while Netherland shot 9-9-9.   The top 5 teams from qualifications competed in quarterfinals. The leader USA easily qualified over Great Britain (59-56, 117-113, 174-162, 233-217). South Africa outscored Belgium 228-220. France led Italy 57-56, 113-112, but the Italians increased their level in the third end. They took the lead 167-165 and eventually won the match 224-221. Denmark met Germany and trailed 56-57, 113-114 after the first two ends. In the third end, the Germans shot X10-8-9-10-9-7, allowing the Danes to pass them with X10-9-9-10-8-10. Denmark had a 4-point margin, 169-165. They kept the same advantage through the end to win the match 227-223.   In semifinals, the South Africans were unable to shoot at the level that had been theirs in the two previous rounds (229 and 228). They trailed Denmark 55-58, 107-114, 164-172, 221-229. In the other semifinal, the USA faced no real challenge against Italy. With ends of 60, 59, 58, 60 (total 237), the US team consisting of Braden GELLENTHIEN, Reo WILDE and Rodger WILLETT Jr. broke the world record set by the French at 236 last month at the Porec World Cup. With 225 points, Italy had to surrender and will shoot for the bronze medal against South Africa.   Compound WomenAs leader from qualifications, the USA had a bye in the 1/8 elimination round. The No. 2 Italy had an easy match against the No. 15 Kazakhstan, winning 234-206. The No. 3 Iran was threatened in the beginning by the host country Turkey, seeded No. 14. Iran led by only 1 point, 114-113, at the halfway mark, but increased their lead for the final win 229-225. Russia (No. 4) and Croatia (No. 13) also had a tight match: Russia led 112-110 after two ends. Croatia managed to come back and tie at 225-225. In the shoot-off, BUDEN shot a perfect X10, to which LOGINOVA answered with 10. ORLIC and ZORMAN shot two 8s, while BALZHANOVA and AVDEEVA shot 8 and 10, respectively. Victory 28-26 for Russia. In their match against the No. 10 Colombia, the No. 7 Venezuela took an early 6-point lead 57-52. They increased it to 7 points after the first half and maintained the gap through the end. Victory 225-218 for Venezuela. In the other matches France defeated South Africa 229-222, Mexico beat Great Britain 234-223, and the No. 9 Germany upset the No. 8 Sweden, 228-221. With 234 points each, Italy and Mexico jointly set a new world record in this category.   The top 7 countries from qualifications competed in the quarterfinals. The USA had an easy victory over Germany (224-213). Despite trailing 54-57 after the first end, the Iranians defeated Mexico 224-219. Italy led Venezuela by 5 points after the first part, 58-53, but disaster struck in the second end when Laura LONGO shot a 0, catapulting Venezuela in the lead, 109-104. The Italians tried to make up for their missed arrow but it was not to be. They lost the match 226-227. Russia (No. 4) trailed France (No. 5) after the first end, 53-57. The French were inconsistent in the second end (9-10-X10-9-8-6). Russia shot 9-8-X10-X10-9-9 to reduce the gap to 1 point (108-109). The Russians shot 57 in the third end, while the French did 56. The two teams tied at 165-165, and both shot 56 in the final part (222-222). In the shoot-off, the French archer LEBECQUE started with an 8*, while BALZHANOVA shot 9. TCHEPIKOFF shot an X10 one centimetre from the centre. AVDEEVA answered with a 10. CHESSE shot a 10, forcing LOGINOVA to shoot a bull’s eye to win, but the Russian scored only a 9.   In semifinals, the USA led France 58-54. The French reduced the gap in the second end by shooting 59, while the USA did X10-9-9-X10-10-9 (57). The USA led 115-113. The third and fourth ends were very tight. The USA managed to keep a small advantage, edging their opponent both times by 1 point, 58-57 and 55-54. They took the match 228-224 and advanced to the gold medal final. Iran led from the start against Venezuela for an easy victory, 55-53, 111-106, 111-106, 225-217. The gold medal final will feature the USA against Iran, while France will defy Venezuela for bronze.   The competition continues on Saturday afternoon on the beach with the individual bronze and gold medal matches. The teams will shoot their medal matches on Sunday afternoon.   Stayed tuned on www.worldarchery.org!   World Archery Communication