The Road to Istanbul

  Today all the archers competed in their individual matches of the Shanghai World Cup Stage to the semi-finals. However, many of them had not only Shanghai in mind. They needed to earn World Cup points to qualify for the World Cup Final in Istanbul. The recurve archers were the first on the field this morning. The top 8 athletes of each category were pre-seeded in the 1/16 elimination round. In Shangai, the competition started with the 1/24 matches.   The recurve archers shot their matches in the Set System (5 sets of 3 arrows) at 70 metres. Each set was worth 2 points, and the archers who earned 6 set points won the match. In case of a tied match (5-5), a one-arrow shoot-off closest to centre was shot.  Recurve Men All the athletes except one in the running for qualification in the World Cup Final passed through the 1/24 eliminations round. Jacob WUKIE (USA) had a very long shot to go to Istanbul and he did not make it far today in Shanghai. He lost against Johan PRASETYO (INA) 2-6 (25-27, 25-29, 27-27, 28-27). In the British duel, Alan WILLS had the better hand against Michael PEART. The latter shot a 5 in the first set (24-28). Then he scored a good 9-9-9, but WILLS shot 10-10-10. PEART finished with 9-8-9, but WILLS had 9-9-9 for a clean victory 6-0. He would come up against  his other teammate, Larry GODFREY in the next round.   The No. 1 British archer GODFREY confirmed his status by beating his teammate and best friend WILLS. GODFREY led 4-0. Then WILLS shot another perfect set (10-10-10) to come back at 2-4. However he finished with 7-9-9, while GODFREY scored 9-9-9 to clinch the match 6-2. In another important match, Jantsan GANTGUGS (MGL) was rock solid against DAI Xiaoxiang (CHN). GANTGUGS led 2-0 (29-27). He then scored 9-10-10, 10-10-9, 9-9-10! The Chinese athlete had 10-8-9, 10-10-10, 9-8-10 to concede defeat 2-6. No less than five matches with people involved in the race to Istanbul went to shoot-off! Jake KAMINSKI (USA) scored 10 in the tie-break to defeat CHENG Chu-Sian (MAS). CHEN Wenyuan (CHN) did the same against Rick VAN DER VEN (NED). Joe FANCHIN (USA) had another 10 in the shoot-off to beat Riau EGA AGATHA (INA). Finally Rick VAN DEN OEVER also scored a 10 in the shoot-off while Juan Rene SERRANO (MEX) had 9. What a high level! Pedro VIVAS ALCALA survived the shoot-off with a 9, as Rahmat SULISTIAWAN (INA) scored 8. Finally, Gael PREVOST (FRA) beat his teammate Jean-Charles VALLADONT 6 set points to 4 (30-29 in the last set).   GANTUGS continued excellently in the 1/8 elimination to defeat GODFREY. The athlete from Mongolia left the yellow only once: 10-10-9, 9-10-10, 9-8-10, 9-10-10. GODFREY was not far behind with 10-9-9, 10-9-7, 9-10-8, 9-10-9. However in set points, it translated to a 7-1 victory for GANTUGS! The match between KAMINSKI and CHEN was about the same. KAMINSKI did not leave the yellow (10-10-9, 9-10-9, 10-9-9, 9-10-9). CHEN left it once (10-9-9, 9-9-10, 8-9-10, 9-10-9). In set score, KAMINSKI won 6-2! No. 1 Brady ELLISON (USA) suffered his first defeat in the World Cup today! He actually only survived the previous round in the shoot-off, and this time the fifth set was fatal to the American. He lost against K. A. MOHAMAD (MAS) 4-6 (29-28, 27-29, 28-27, 28-29, 28-29)! VIVAS ALCALA, FANCHIN and PREVOST also won and preserved their chance for a berth in the World Cup Final!   The story of GANTUGS stopped in the quarterfinal when he was beaten by VIVAS ALCALA! The Mexican won 6-4 (29-27, 29-29, 27-25, 27-29, 28-28). VIVAS ALCALAS booked himself a place in the World Cup Final, while the hopes of GANTUGS stopped here. FANCHIN beat PREVOST 7-3 (28-28, 30-28, 30-27, 27-28, 28-27). However, both won a berth in the World Cup Final! KAMINSKI could have challenged them, if he would have beaten MOHAMAD. The American took a 4-0 lead after two sets (29-27, 29-28). However KAMINSKI let the third set go when he shot a 6 (26-27). Then both archers shot 9-10-8. The American still led 5-3! He finished with 9-9-9, while the Malaysian scored 10-10-9 to tie the match at 5-5! In the shoot-off, KAMINSKI shot 10! However, MOHAMAD earned an X10; he was the closest to the centre! A tight victory, but a big effect as KAMINSKI was the last one still challenging for a World Cup Final berth. Both MOHAMAD and Mitch DIELEMANS (NED), who beat Romain GIROUILLE (FRA) 6-2, did not have any previous points in the World Cup ranking and could not contend for a place in Istanbul.   In the semifinals, MOHAMAD beat VIVAS ALCALA 7-1 (29-28, 29-28, 29-29, 29-28). FANCHIN and DIELEMANS started with 10-9-9 each. Then FANCHIN won the second set 9-10-9 to 10-9-8. DIELEMANS won the third 9-9-10 to 9-7-9. The American took the fourth 7-10-10 to 8-8-9. The Dutchman tied it at the end with 10-10-8 to 9-7-8. In the shoot-off, DIELEMANS scored 7. FANCHIN went to the gold final with a 9!   Based on the top three results of the four World Cup stages, the top 7 archers (taking in account a maximum of two archers per country) of the season qualify for the Archery World Cup Final in Istanbul. Despite the bronze and gold medal matches in Shanghai on Saturday, no other archer will be able to enter into the current top 7 of today’s Recurve Men’s World Cup Ranking. Only positions within the top 7 may change. The top 7 are: Brady ELLISON (USA), Joe FANCHIN (USA), Dmytro HRACHOV (UKR), Gael PREVOST (FRA), OH Jin-Hyek (KOR), Pedro ALCALA (MEX) and DAI Xiaoxiang (CHN). Congratulations athletes!  Recurve Women In the 1/24 eliminations, Sophie DODEMONT (FRA) had something to cheer about after some difficult time recently! She beat Aida ROMAN (MEX) 6-0 (28-25, 27-23, 27-25). The Mexican had 15 points in the World Cup ranking but lost all her chances for Istanbul. The world champion Denisse VAN LAMOEN (CHI) kept her chance alive, but she had to go through a shoot-off against Nathalie DIELEN (SUI). The Swiss athlete had the upper hand at the beginning of the match 27-25, 27-27. Then VAN LAMOEN won the third set 29-25. Both archers had troubles in the fourth set as their arrows went on the right side of the target at the end (10-9-6 for the Swiss; 10-7-6 for the Chilean). DIELEN had the lead again, but she put another arrow on the right side in the fifth set to concede the tie (8-8-5 vs 9-10-9). In the one-arrow shoot-off the world champion VAN LAMOEN scored a 9, while DIELEN had an 8. Victory for VAN LAMOEN 6 sets points to 5. Another Swiss athlete had a very interesting match. Valentine DE GIULI beat Nami HAYAKAWA (JPN) 6-5 (29-22, 26-27, 27-27, 26-28, 27-26; T9-T8). Pia Carmen LIONETTI (ITA) also kept herself in the race for Istanbul. She was more consistent than her opponent Ika Yuliana ROCHMAWATI (INA) and won the fifth set with a 10-8-8 vs. 9-8-7. Complete score: 6-4 (26-23, 25-28, 28-25, 26-28, 26-24).   The world champion VAN LAMOEN had a good start in the second round, before she ran into problems. She led 5-1. She then scored 10-10-8, but her opponent Ren HAYAKAWA (JPN), sister of Nami, had 10-10-9 to come back at 3-5. The Chilean only scored 6-8-7 in the fifth set and the Japanese took advantage of it with 9-8-7. The match was tied at 5-5. In the shoot-off, VAN LAMOEN scored 8; HAYAWAKA found an X10 to advance to the next round. The road ended for LIONETTI as well. She lost against Naomi FOLKARD (GBR) 3-7 (23-29, 27-27, 27-26, 24-25, 28-29).   In an important match for the qualification to Istanbul, Inna STEPANOVA (RUS) defeated the No. 1 seed Natalia VALEEVA (ITA) in the 1/8 elimination round. The Italian caught a liner 10 to take the first set (29-28) and led 4-0 after the second set (29-26). However, STEPANOVA did not miss the yellow later on, while VALEEVA could not score another 10. The Russian had 9-10-9, 10-10-9, 9-10-9 to win the last three sets (the Italian scored 9-9-8, 9-9-8, 9-9-9). A come-back victory for STEPANOVA, from 0-4 to 6-4! The No. 2 seed had a difficult match but put herself in a strong position with a win at the end against HAYAKAWA 6-4 (28-16, 27-28, 26-24, 25-29, 27-26). The athlete from Mongolia, Bishindee URANTUNGALAG also put herself in a contending position for Istanbul. She beat FANG Yuting (CHN) 6-4 (28-28, 26-26, 29-27, 27-29, 29-28). Three other matches were decisive for Istanbul, but the results were clear - 6-0 in the three matches! Berengere SCHUH (FRA) beat Natalya ERDYNIYEVA (RUS), Alejandra VALENCIA (MEX) defeated teammate Mariana AVITIA (MEX) and CHENG Min (CHN) over Khatuna LORIG (USA).   KUMARI ensured her place in the Istanbul Final, while putting an end to the hopes of URANTUNGALAG. The Indian won the first set 28-26; then they tied 28-28. The athlete from Mongolia shot a perfect set in the third (10-10-10) to tie the match at 3-3. However she could not quite make it in the fourth and fifth. She scored 9-10-7 and 9-8-9. KUMARI was better with 10-9-9 and 9-9-9 to win the match 7-3. STEPANOVA and VALENCIA tied the first two sets 27-27, 29-29. Then STEPANOVA scored 9-10-9 and 10-9-9, while VALENCIA had only 9-8-9 and 9-9-9. The Russian won 6-2, but both archers will go to Istanbul! CHENG lost against Erwina SAFITRI (INA) 3-7 (29-28, 28-26, 29-29, 26-28, 27-28). However, this quarterfinal place in Shanghai was enough for CHENG, who won in Ogden, to book her ticket to Istanbul. In the last quarterfinal, Berengere SCHUH got a perfect start, 30-27, 30-26! However, FOLKARD tied it by winning the third and fourth set 28-27, 28-26. Both archers then scored 29 in the fifth; shoot-off! FOLKARD scored 9. SCHUH scored 10 and she kept her chance to qualify for Istanbul alive! SCHUH would however need to win her semi-final against KUMARI!   In the semi-finals, STEPANOVA beat SAFITIRI 6-2 (29-28, 28-28, 29-29, 26-24). SCHUH started her semifinal on fire again: 10-10-10! She then tied the second set with KUMARI (26-26). SCHUH scored 10-10-9 in the third set to take a 5-1 lead. However the Indian fought back with 9-10-9 and 10-9-10, while the Frenchwoman had 9-10-8 and 8-9-9. The match ended tied at 5-5! The Istanbul qualifications for SCHUH would be decided on only one arrow! KUMARI shot a 9. SCHUH scored a 10! She booked her herself a place in the Shanghai gold medal match AND in the Grand Final in Istanbul!     Based on the top three results of the four World Cup stages, the top 7 archers (taking into account a maximum of two archers per country) of the season qualify for the Archery World Cup Final in Istanbul. Despite the bronze and gold medal matches in Shanghai on Saturday, no other archer will be able to enter into the current top 7 of today’s Recurve Women’s World Cup Ranking. Only positions within the top 7 may change. The top 7 is: HAN Gyeonghee (KOR), JUNG Dasomi (KOR), CHENG Ming (CHN), Deepika KUMARI (IND), Inna STEPANOVA (RUS), Alejandra VALENCIA (MEX), Berengere SCHUH (FRA). Congratulations athletes!   On Thursday afternoon the “Compound Road to Istanbul” will take place.   Didier Miéville World Archery Communication