Porec Champions ELLISON and WILLETT Repeat Victory in Antalya

  Compound Women  Bronze Medal – Albina LOGINOVA (RUS/1) v Seyedeh-Vida HALIMIANAVVAL (IRI/14) Albina LOGINOVA is the current world champion and the winner of the 2010 World Cup Final. HALIMIANAVVAL is 22 years old and became World University Champion in 2010 in Shenzhen. Earlier this year she placed 9th individually at the Porec World Cup, where LOGINOVA finished 5th.   These archers met for the first time in this final for bronze. The wind was extremely strong as the archers started their match, causing low scores from both. LOGINOVA shot 7-9-9, and the archer from Iran 8-7-8. LOGINOVA led 25-23. The scores of the second end were 7-8-7 for LOGINOVA, 7-8-6 for HALIMIANAVVAL who trailed by 3 points. The Iranian archer had a great third end – 10-8-X10 – while LOGINOVA was more bothered by the wind – 8-9-7. HALIMIANAVVAL took the lead 72-71 before the last six arrows. In the fourth end, LOGINOVA shot 9-7-7. Her opponent virtually lost her match on her second arrow, when she missed the target. She now trailed by 10 points, 85-95. The match ended as it had started, with inconsistent scores: Albina shot 9-7-5 and Seyedeh 8-9-6. Victory 116-108 for the world champion.   Thomas AUBERT: Very strong wind in this first match. The world champion managed to shoot better.   Gold Medal – Parsamehr MAHTAB (IRI/5) v Ivana BUDEN (CRO/23) Ivana BUDEN, 25, is one of the best archers in the world. Her best result is a bronze medal at the 2009 World Cup Final. The archer from Croatia has already competed in two World Cup gold medal finals – in Santo Domingo 2008 and Porec 2009. However she had to settle for silver both times. As for MAHTAB, 22, she won a team silver last year in Antalya. She is on the right track this season – she placed 7th at the Porec World Cup.   In their first encounter here in Antalya, MAHTAB took an early lead 8-8-8 to 7-8-7. She increased the gap by shooting X10-9-7 in the second end. With 5-8-7, BUDEN found herself in a very difficult position, trailing 42-50. The archer from Iran was the best again in the third end (25-22) and in the fourth (26-21). She led 101-85. BUDEN shot 10-9-9 in her last end, but it was not enough. MAHTAB clinched the gold medal after two arrows, final score 125-113.   Thomas AUBERT: The Iranian was stronger than Ivana, with only three arrows out of the 8 ring.   Compound Men  Bronze Medal – Dietmar TRILLUS (CAN/4) v Seppie CILLIERS (RSA/26) Dietmar TRILLUS is the 2007 world champion and the winner of the 2008 World Cup Final. His opponent Seppie CILLIERS is the world record holder at 30 meters. He was 6th last year here. He has achieved his career best since then by winning the team and individual bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games in October. Both archers are starting their World Cup season here in Antalya.   In the first set, CILLIERS seemed to have a problem with his release and shot only 0-6-5. TRILLUS shot 8-9-10 to take the lead, 27-11. The second end was similar, with 0-8-8 from CILLIERS and 28 points for the Canadian. CILLIERS then shot a better end at 8-6-10, but TRILLUS shot 28 to lead 83-60. As consistent as ever, TRILLUS went on with 29 points, the South African shot 27. The score moved to 112-78 for the Canadian. He concluded with 29 points to win the bronze medal, 141-104.   Thomas AUBERT: Seppie seemed to have problems with his release on the first arrows. When he solved it, it was too late to come back in the match.   Gold Medal – Rodger WILLETT Jr. (USA/17) vs Amir KAZEMPOOR (IRI/51) The No. 51 (!) from qualifications is defying the 2007 team world champion and current leader of the Longines Prize for Precision in this final! They already met last month in Porec in the 1/16 elimination round, which WILLETT won 149-143 on his way to the individual gold medal. Today he will try for a medal for the first time at the Antalya World Cup after losing the bronze medal final last year to Vladas SIGAUSKAS (LTU).   The American displayed his talent and his great form by starting the match with 10-10-10. KAZEMPOOR shot 6-10-8 to trail 24-30. The score then moved to 57-50 for the American. The archer from Iran was the best in the third end, with WILLETT shooting an unusually low 9-7-9. KAZEMPOOR reduced the gap to 6 points, 76-82. He recovered 2 more points in the fourth end, outscoring WILLETT 10-10-8 to 8-X10-8. The intermediate score before the last 3 arrows was 108-104 for the American. WILLETT concluded the match with 8-X10-8, 2 points better than his opponent. The American won the match and the gold medal 134-128.   Thomas AUBERT: This match was tight. Rodger WILLETT’s heavy bow might have been an advantage in this strong wind. He was also a little more precise than his opponent.   Recurve Women  Bronze Medal – Ren HAYAKAWA (JPN/13) v HAN Gyeonghee (KOR/3) The Japanese archer is a newcomer to the World Cup circuit. She managed to make the bronze medal final despite placing only 13th in qualifications. Her Korean opponent is only 18 and a reigning junior team world champion from Ogden 2009. She made an extremely impressive debut at the senior international level this season, by winning two gold medals (team + individual) in Porec, in what was her first World Cup appearance.   In this duel, the first set went to HAYAKAWA (8-9-7 to 8-8-7). HAN lost the second set on her first arrow, a 1. HAYAKAWA clinched the set 26-15 to lead 4-0. The Japanese archer had trouble in the third set with only 9-5-2. Shooting 8-9-6, HAN came back to 2-4. The fourth set followed the same pattern, with HAYAKAWA shooting 8-6-2, and HAN scoring 7-8-8. The Korean archer was back in the game at 4-4. The Japanese reacted with better shooting (10-8-7) but HAN was stronger (10-9-9. She won the match and the bronze medal 6-4.   Thomas AUBERT: After a bad start, the Korean archer came back strongly, taking the advantage over her opponent who made two mistakes, and finally won the match with three arrows in the gold.   Gold Medal – KI Bo Bae (KOR/1) v JUNG Dasomi (KOR/2) These two teammates have already met in in a very close bronze medal final in Porec. JUNG, competing in her first international event at 20 years old, had won the bronze in the shoot-off by just a few millimetres. Her opponent the 23-year-old KI Bo Bae is more experienced at the international level. She won the University World Championships back in 2008 and placed 3rd at the World Cup Final in Edinburgh last year.   In Antalya, JUNG took the first set 7-9-10 to 8-7-7. The second set ended in a draw, KI shooting 10-8-9 and JUNG 10-9-8 (JUNG’s first arrow being just on the line). JUNG led 3-1. KI was inconsistent in the third set with arrows at 6-7-8. JUNG won the set 27-21. However she suffered in the fourth, scoring only 0-8-3. Despite scoring a 0 in her second arrow, KI managed to come back 3-5. In the fifth set, KI shot 7-9-8. JUNG matched these arrows to tie. With her score of 6-4, she won her first individual gold medal in an international competition!   Thomas AUBERT: The wind coming from the sea is getting stronger. Both Koreans broke an arrow against the cliffs on the fourth end. Overall JUNG was stronger and more precise.   Recurve Men  Bronze Medal – Dmytro HRACHOV (UKR/32) v DAI Xiaoxiang (CHN/3) Dmytro HRACHOV has been shooting at elite level for a long time. He won a team bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics, and was 7th individually at the last World Championships. This is his first chance at a World Cup medal. The 20-year-old DAI Xiaoxiang is a new face at the international level, having made his World Cup debut last September in Shanghai.   HRACHOV won the first set 24-22 due to a bad 5 from DAI. However the Chinese archer came back with 9-9-9 to win the second set. He ran out of time on the second arrow of the third set (0). HRACHOV took the set and led 4-2. The Ukrainian archer won the next set 7-9-7 to 4-7-9. Victory 6-2 and bronze medal for HRACHOV!   Thomas AUBERT: The Chinese made many mistakes and could not keep his technique, handing the victory to the Ukrainian. HRACHOV was more consistent.   Gold Medal – Brady ELLISON (USA/4) v OH Jin-Hyek (KOR/2) OH Jin-Hyek placed 4th at the 2009 World Championships, where he also won gold with his team. At the Porec World Cup in May, the 30-year-old Korean won gold in the mixed team event, bronze with his team and placed 6th individually. Today he was shooting for his first individual title in the World Cup. His opponent was no less than the reigning World Cup Final winner Brady ELLISON. In 2010 the American also won the Longines Prize for Precision as the recurve male athlete having shot the most 10s during the season. ELLISON started the 2011 World Cup season as well as he finished the year before. At Stage 1 in Porec, he won two gold medals in the men's individual and team events and silver in the mixed team competition. He was hungry for gold after settling for bronze last year in Antalya.    These two champions have never met in an individual match before. Today, Brady ELLISON took the first set easily with X10-10-8, benefiting from a 6 by his opponent. OH had a great start in the second set but failed on the last two arrows (X10-7-6). Brady answered with 9-7-10. He led 4-0. OH shot 8-7-7 in the third set. ELLISON was consistent at 9-9-9. He won the match in straight sets, 6-0, and another World Cup gold medal this year!   Thomas AUBERT: Once again Brady shows that he’s probably the best archer in the world, by taking his second World Cup title in a row.   The competition continues on Sunday afternoon on the beach with the team bronze and gold medal matches.   Stayed tuned on www.worldarchery.org!   World Archery Communication