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No Korean recurve women in semifinals!
Turin – 8 July 2011
The World Archery Championships in Turin continued today from the 1/16 elimination matches to the quarterfinals. The world title was still at stake for all of them and the Olympic dream was still alive for some recurve competitors.
Even if the team Olympic quotas were all awarded two days before, there were still eight individual spots to be awarded in Turin to athletes from countries that did not qualify their teams. There were some key matches in the first round of the day putting together some archers who could still qualify for the Olympic Games. If needed, an Olympic play-off tournament for the losers of the 1/16 eliminations would also be shot.
The top 8 individuals from qualification shot their first match as they were pre-seeded in the 1/16 elimination. All other 1/16 qualifiers already shot and won two matches each on Thursday.
Recurve Men – 1/16 Elimination
Seeded No. 20, Viktor RUBAN (UKR/20) faced CHENG Chu Sian (MAS/13). This match was televised on live Internet TV. The Malay appeared quite shaky on the field facing the reigning Olympic champion from Ukraine. As RUBAN proved strong with only one bad set of 26 points (29/29/26/29), CHENG scored only 1 set point tying his opponent's score in the third set (26/27/26/27). Easy victory for RUBAN: 6-1.
KIM Woojin (KOR/3) also had a comfortable first win, 6-2 against Kairul Anuar MOHAMAD (MAS/83) and his top seeded teammate IM Dong-Hyun (KOR/1), snatched the shoot-off (5-5) though he trailed 0-4 after two sets. In the tie-break, his opponent DAI Xiaoxiang (CHN/32) was the first shooter to release his arrow and score a 10. Taking his time, IM also managed a 10 but closer to the centre to clinch victory.
The second Olympic champion (Athens 2004) on the field, Marco GALIAZZO (ITA/19), was up against Tarundeep RAI (IND/62) in the first round. The Italian took the lead 2-0 in the first set (27-25) and maintained it after two sets, as the two archers scored 1 set point each (27-27). GALIAZZO was caught up at 3-3 after his opponent from India scored a 29 and he could only manage 28 in the third set. The two archers then shot the same scores again and RAI won 2 set points to lead 5-3. In the final set GALIAZZO benefited from a 4 (!) by his opponent to win the 2 set points (27-22) and tie the match at 5-5. In the shoot-off they both released a 10, but that of the Italian was closer to the centre for victory.
The reigning European champion, Romain GIROUILLE (FRA/11) was upset by Dmytro HRACHOV (UKR/22), who finished 3rd in this year's Antalya World Cup in June. The two opened the match perfectly with 10-10-10 and they were tied at 1-1. In the second set, the Ukrainian continued on a high pace with 10-10-9, against 9-9-9 for the Frenchman and won 2 set points to take the lead at 3-1. At the last arrow of the third set, GIROUILLE could have tied the match with a 10, but shooting in the last two seconds on the clock, he scored a 9 and lost the 2 set points to trail 1-5. GIROUILLE and HRACHOV scored 28 points each for a tied set and victory for the Russian by 6-2.
Recurve Men – 1/8 Elimination
After an easy previous round, the Olympic champion Viktor RUBAN (UKR/20) faced the third Korean archer OH Jin Hyek (KOR/4) in 1/8 elimination. The Asian competitor took the lead in the first set (28-26/2-0), but his opponent dominated the second set with 10-10-10 for a score of 2-2. In the third set, RUBAN shot his first two arrows on the right (8-9) and the third on the left (9) for 26 only points. With 9-10-9, OH won the 2 set points and took back the lead, 4-2. The Olympic champion from Ukraine had a burst of pride, scoring 10-10-10 for the second time of the match and came back again (4-4). However, in the final set it was OH's turn reach perfection (10-10-10) and clinch victory by 6-4.
Marco GALIAZZO (ITA/19), who had a hard time in the 1/16 winning after a shoot-off, was up against KIM Woojin (KOR/3). The Korean won the first set 28-27 (2-0). The second set was a tie with the two archers shooting 28 each and the lead remained KIM's (3-1). The competitor from Asia then scored two sets of 29 points. With two 28’s, the Italian 2004 Olympic champion lost the 4 set points at stake in the two final sets to be expelled 1-7!
The reigning World Cup winner Brady ELLISON (USA/2) faced Juan Rene SERRANO (MEX/15). In this match each set saw one archer reaching 30 points. The Mexican won the second set 30-27, but the favourite American ELLISON shot perfect scores in the first, third and fourth ends to win by 6-2.
Recurve Men – Quarterfinal
The top 4 seeded archers were all present in the quarterfinal and they all won their matches to qualify for the semifinals on Sunday. Three of them had an easy run going through this round. Brady ELLISON (USA/2) beat Baard NESTENG (NOR/42), 6-0. Same score in the match between KIM Woojing (KOR/3) and Laurence GODFREY (GBR/6) for a Korean win. Another athlete from Korea OH Jin Hyek (KOR/4) entered the semifinal round with a win 7-1 against Jeff HENCKELS (LUX).
The only close match of the round was the face-to-face between IM Dong-Hyun (KOR/1) and Jay LYON (CAN/8). The Korean led 2-0 after the first end (28-26) and 4-0 after two (26-22). The two archers scored the same 9-9-8 series after that to win 1 set point each. At 5-1 IM was only missing one point to clinch the match. However, he scored 27 and his opponent 28 in the fourth end. The 2 set points went to the Canadian who came back at 3-5. LYON even succeeded in recovering completely and tied the match at 5-5 with a perfect final set (10-10-10). However, his 9 in the tie-break gave an opportunity to IM who clinched victory with a 10.
Recurve Women – 1/16 Elimination
The big upset of the round was for the top seeded archer KI Bo Bae (KOR/1), winner of the 2010 Asian Games and 2nd at the Antalya World Cup this year. Leading 4-0 (28-25/27-26), the Korean was overtaken by Maja Buskbjerg JAGER (DEN/33) in the next three sets (25-29/27-29/26-27). The young Dane, 19 years old, clinched 6 set points in a row and the match 6-4!
Winner of the Commonwealth Games 2010 and 5th in the world, Deepika KUMARI (IND/9) faced Natalia LESNIAK (POL/41). After a tie (28-28/1-1) in the first set, the Indian favourite took the lead (29-27/3-1). However, the archer from Poland then won the next two sets (27-26/29-26) to take the lead 5-3. The final set turned to KUMARI's advantage 28-27 and she tied at 5-5. The tie-break arrows were both a 10 but the one of the Pole was closer to the centre for victory.
The home favourite competitor Natalia VALEEVA (ITA/6) was kicked out in this round by ZHU Shanshan (CHN/27). The scores of the Italian, who was world champion in 1995 and 2007, were unusually low (24/26/25/27), too low to hope for a win. ZHU scored 27/26/28/28 to clinch an easy victory by 7-1.
Recurve Women – 1/8 Elimination
In the 1/8 round the British lady Amy OLIVER (GBR/10) was up against Kristine ESEBUA (GEO/39). The two competitors remained close to one another all the way through the match. The Georgian took the lead after three arrows (28-27/2-0) but her opponent scored a perfect second set to tie (30-29/2-2). It was then ESEBUA's turn to score 30 points to lead for the second time (30-26/4-2). The shooting level lowered a bit in the last two sets. OLIVER won the fourth 27-26 for a tie at 4-4. In the final set, she could only score 25 to hand victory to ESEBUA who scored 27 and won by 6-4.
Although Natalia LESNIAK (POL/41) and Katsiaryna TIMOFEYEVA (BLR/40) were very close in the qualification round, there was a "non-match" between the two ladies in 1/8 elimination. Victory was decided in three little sets (28-27/27-25/29-26), 6-0 in favour of the competitor from Belarus.
The revelation of the competition is certainly Chile's Denisse Astrid VAN LAMOEN (CHI/6). The 31-year old lady is not a stranger to the archery world as she competed in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney where she ranked 54th. However, she had never reached the level showed in these championships. In the 1/8 round, she overcame the 4-time Olympian Kathuna LORIG (USA/20) with a score of 7-3.
Recurve Women – Quarterfinal
Two Korean ladies were left in quarterfinal after the early upset of KI Bo Bae (KOR/1) in the 1/16 elimination. JUNG Dasomi (KOR/11) had a bad start in her match against Kristine ESEBUA (GEO/39). With only 27 and 25 points, she trailed 0-4 after her opponent from Georgia scored 28 and 27 and won the 4 set points at stake. In the third set, they scored 27 points each, and the lead remained ESEBUA's (5-1). JUNG then had a burst with 29 points in the fourth set to keep the match alive at 3-5. But scoring 25 only with her final three arrows was not enough. Also with 25, ESEBUA brought in the 1-point score she was missing to win 6-4. A second Korean favourite out!
The third Korean female competitor HAN Gyeonghee (KOR/11) was in an all-Asian match, facing FANG Yuting (CHN/3) in the quarterfinal. The first three sets were undecided (28-28/27-27/28-29) for a tie at 3-3. The Korean took the lead first (28-27), 5-3 after four sets, but she fell apart with only 8-7-6 in the final set to be caught up at 5-5. FANG released first in the tie-break and scored a 9. With only a few seconds left on the clock, HAN had a poor 7 and was eliminated from the world title race.
With ESEBUA and FANG, the other two qualifiers were Denisse Astrid VAN LAMOEN (CHI/6), who beat Khatuna NARIMANIDZE (GEO/12) 6-0, and Berengere SCHUH (FRA/16), who defeated Katsiaryna TIMOFEYEVA (BLR/40). Rare enough to be noted, it is the first time since the head-to-head matches were introduced in international competitions in 1992 (Barcelona Olympic Games) that no Korean woman is present in the semifinal!
The team finals will be played on Sunday morning, while the individual semifinals and finals will be shot in the afternoon at the Piazza Castello in Turin.
World Archery Communication
Seeded No. 20, Viktor RUBAN (UKR/20) faced CHENG Chu Sian (MAS/13). This match was televised on live Internet TV. The Malay appeared quite shaky on the field facing the reigning Olympic champion from Ukraine. As RUBAN proved strong with only one bad set of 26 points (29/29/26/29), CHENG scored only 1 set point tying his opponent's score in the third set (26/27/26/27). Easy victory for RUBAN: 6-1.
KIM Woojin (KOR/3) also had a comfortable first win, 6-2 against Kairul Anuar MOHAMAD (MAS/83) and his top seeded teammate IM Dong-Hyun (KOR/1), snatched the shoot-off (5-5) though he trailed 0-4 after two sets. In the tie-break, his opponent DAI Xiaoxiang (CHN/32) was the first shooter to release his arrow and score a 10. Taking his time, IM also managed a 10 but closer to the centre to clinch victory.
The second Olympic champion (Athens 2004) on the field, Marco GALIAZZO (ITA/19), was up against Tarundeep RAI (IND/62) in the first round. The Italian took the lead 2-0 in the first set (27-25) and maintained it after two sets, as the two archers scored 1 set point each (27-27). GALIAZZO was caught up at 3-3 after his opponent from India scored a 29 and he could only manage 28 in the third set. The two archers then shot the same scores again and RAI won 2 set points to lead 5-3. In the final set GALIAZZO benefited from a 4 (!) by his opponent to win the 2 set points (27-22) and tie the match at 5-5. In the shoot-off they both released a 10, but that of the Italian was closer to the centre for victory.
The reigning European champion, Romain GIROUILLE (FRA/11) was upset by Dmytro HRACHOV (UKR/22), who finished 3rd in this year's Antalya World Cup in June. The two opened the match perfectly with 10-10-10 and they were tied at 1-1. In the second set, the Ukrainian continued on a high pace with 10-10-9, against 9-9-9 for the Frenchman and won 2 set points to take the lead at 3-1. At the last arrow of the third set, GIROUILLE could have tied the match with a 10, but shooting in the last two seconds on the clock, he scored a 9 and lost the 2 set points to trail 1-5. GIROUILLE and HRACHOV scored 28 points each for a tied set and victory for the Russian by 6-2.
Recurve Men – 1/8 Elimination
After an easy previous round, the Olympic champion Viktor RUBAN (UKR/20) faced the third Korean archer OH Jin Hyek (KOR/4) in 1/8 elimination. The Asian competitor took the lead in the first set (28-26/2-0), but his opponent dominated the second set with 10-10-10 for a score of 2-2. In the third set, RUBAN shot his first two arrows on the right (8-9) and the third on the left (9) for 26 only points. With 9-10-9, OH won the 2 set points and took back the lead, 4-2. The Olympic champion from Ukraine had a burst of pride, scoring 10-10-10 for the second time of the match and came back again (4-4). However, in the final set it was OH's turn reach perfection (10-10-10) and clinch victory by 6-4.
Marco GALIAZZO (ITA/19), who had a hard time in the 1/16 winning after a shoot-off, was up against KIM Woojin (KOR/3). The Korean won the first set 28-27 (2-0). The second set was a tie with the two archers shooting 28 each and the lead remained KIM's (3-1). The competitor from Asia then scored two sets of 29 points. With two 28’s, the Italian 2004 Olympic champion lost the 4 set points at stake in the two final sets to be expelled 1-7!
The reigning World Cup winner Brady ELLISON (USA/2) faced Juan Rene SERRANO (MEX/15). In this match each set saw one archer reaching 30 points. The Mexican won the second set 30-27, but the favourite American ELLISON shot perfect scores in the first, third and fourth ends to win by 6-2.
Recurve Men – Quarterfinal
The top 4 seeded archers were all present in the quarterfinal and they all won their matches to qualify for the semifinals on Sunday. Three of them had an easy run going through this round. Brady ELLISON (USA/2) beat Baard NESTENG (NOR/42), 6-0. Same score in the match between KIM Woojing (KOR/3) and Laurence GODFREY (GBR/6) for a Korean win. Another athlete from Korea OH Jin Hyek (KOR/4) entered the semifinal round with a win 7-1 against Jeff HENCKELS (LUX).
The only close match of the round was the face-to-face between IM Dong-Hyun (KOR/1) and Jay LYON (CAN/8). The Korean led 2-0 after the first end (28-26) and 4-0 after two (26-22). The two archers scored the same 9-9-8 series after that to win 1 set point each. At 5-1 IM was only missing one point to clinch the match. However, he scored 27 and his opponent 28 in the fourth end. The 2 set points went to the Canadian who came back at 3-5. LYON even succeeded in recovering completely and tied the match at 5-5 with a perfect final set (10-10-10). However, his 9 in the tie-break gave an opportunity to IM who clinched victory with a 10.
Recurve Women – 1/16 EliminationThe big upset of the round was for the top seeded archer KI Bo Bae (KOR/1), winner of the 2010 Asian Games and 2nd at the Antalya World Cup this year. Leading 4-0 (28-25/27-26), the Korean was overtaken by Maja Buskbjerg JAGER (DEN/33) in the next three sets (25-29/27-29/26-27). The young Dane, 19 years old, clinched 6 set points in a row and the match 6-4!
Winner of the Commonwealth Games 2010 and 5th in the world, Deepika KUMARI (IND/9) faced Natalia LESNIAK (POL/41). After a tie (28-28/1-1) in the first set, the Indian favourite took the lead (29-27/3-1). However, the archer from Poland then won the next two sets (27-26/29-26) to take the lead 5-3. The final set turned to KUMARI's advantage 28-27 and she tied at 5-5. The tie-break arrows were both a 10 but the one of the Pole was closer to the centre for victory.
The home favourite competitor Natalia VALEEVA (ITA/6) was kicked out in this round by ZHU Shanshan (CHN/27). The scores of the Italian, who was world champion in 1995 and 2007, were unusually low (24/26/25/27), too low to hope for a win. ZHU scored 27/26/28/28 to clinch an easy victory by 7-1.
Recurve Women – 1/8 Elimination
In the 1/8 round the British lady Amy OLIVER (GBR/10) was up against Kristine ESEBUA (GEO/39). The two competitors remained close to one another all the way through the match. The Georgian took the lead after three arrows (28-27/2-0) but her opponent scored a perfect second set to tie (30-29/2-2). It was then ESEBUA's turn to score 30 points to lead for the second time (30-26/4-2). The shooting level lowered a bit in the last two sets. OLIVER won the fourth 27-26 for a tie at 4-4. In the final set, she could only score 25 to hand victory to ESEBUA who scored 27 and won by 6-4.
Although Natalia LESNIAK (POL/41) and Katsiaryna TIMOFEYEVA (BLR/40) were very close in the qualification round, there was a "non-match" between the two ladies in 1/8 elimination. Victory was decided in three little sets (28-27/27-25/29-26), 6-0 in favour of the competitor from Belarus.
The revelation of the competition is certainly Chile's Denisse Astrid VAN LAMOEN (CHI/6). The 31-year old lady is not a stranger to the archery world as she competed in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney where she ranked 54th. However, she had never reached the level showed in these championships. In the 1/8 round, she overcame the 4-time Olympian Kathuna LORIG (USA/20) with a score of 7-3.
Recurve Women – Quarterfinal
Two Korean ladies were left in quarterfinal after the early upset of KI Bo Bae (KOR/1) in the 1/16 elimination. JUNG Dasomi (KOR/11) had a bad start in her match against Kristine ESEBUA (GEO/39). With only 27 and 25 points, she trailed 0-4 after her opponent from Georgia scored 28 and 27 and won the 4 set points at stake. In the third set, they scored 27 points each, and the lead remained ESEBUA's (5-1). JUNG then had a burst with 29 points in the fourth set to keep the match alive at 3-5. But scoring 25 only with her final three arrows was not enough. Also with 25, ESEBUA brought in the 1-point score she was missing to win 6-4. A second Korean favourite out!
The third Korean female competitor HAN Gyeonghee (KOR/11) was in an all-Asian match, facing FANG Yuting (CHN/3) in the quarterfinal. The first three sets were undecided (28-28/27-27/28-29) for a tie at 3-3. The Korean took the lead first (28-27), 5-3 after four sets, but she fell apart with only 8-7-6 in the final set to be caught up at 5-5. FANG released first in the tie-break and scored a 9. With only a few seconds left on the clock, HAN had a poor 7 and was eliminated from the world title race.
With ESEBUA and FANG, the other two qualifiers were Denisse Astrid VAN LAMOEN (CHI/6), who beat Khatuna NARIMANIDZE (GEO/12) 6-0, and Berengere SCHUH (FRA/16), who defeated Katsiaryna TIMOFEYEVA (BLR/40). Rare enough to be noted, it is the first time since the head-to-head matches were introduced in international competitions in 1992 (Barcelona Olympic Games) that no Korean woman is present in the semifinal!
The team finals will be played on Sunday morning, while the individual semifinals and finals will be shot in the afternoon at the Piazza Castello in Turin.
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