ELLISON repeats as recurve champion, and first crown for CHENG

  The men's bronze medal went to Dmytro HRACHOV (UKR) who defeated the young Gael PREVOST (FRA). On the women's side, Berengere SCHUH (FRA) won 3rd place against JUNG Dasomi (KOR).   The three Koreans present in Istanbul, who were amongst the favourites in this World Cup Final, left with no individual medals. Only OH Jin Hyek and JUNG Dasomi won the mixed team match against the host double Yagiz YILMAZ/Natalia NASARIDZE.   The World Cup Final competition started on Saturday with the compound events. The recurve matches then followed on Sunday, 25 September with the quarterfinals and mixed team match in the morning, followed by the semifinals and the medal matches. The athletes had no second chance as they started directly in knockout matches.   The recurve matches were played in the best-of-five sets format. Each set consisted in three arrows and was worth two points; each archer got one point in case of a tied set. The first archer with six set points won the match. In case of a tied match at 5-5 in set points, a one-arrow shoot-off was played. The winner was the archer whose arrow is closest to centre.   The Rumeli Castle is just across the river, which is spanned by theFatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, a structure connecting Europe with Asia and providing yet another dramatic backdrop for the archers.   Recurve Men – Semifinals  Dmytro HRACHOV (UKR/3) v DAI Xiaoxiang (CHN/7) HRACHOV won three medals at Stage 3 in Ogden this year, including silver in the individual event. He also took bronze at Stage 2 in Antalya. Seven years ago, he was part of the Ukrainian team who won the bronze medal at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. DAI clinched two individual top 10 in the World Cup circuit this year (4th in Antalya, 8th in Ogden) and won the team silver medal at the 2010 Asian Games. He beat Joe FANCHIN (USA) in quarterfinal. The two athletes met for bronze at the World Cup Stage 2 in Antalya back in June. HRACHOV won 6-2.   The first set turned in favour of HRACHOV who scored 27 points, against 26 for his opponent from China. The two archers then shot very strong ends, HRACHOV with 9-10-10. But this was not enough, however, to beat the perfect three arrows shot by DAI, the first perfect set of the day! And the Chinese tied at 2-2.   DAI had found the way to the yellow and continued with 10-9-9 to win another set and take the lead for the first time of the match, 4-2. In the fourth set, the Chinese continued with two other 10s to start. As HRACHOV only scored 9-8, followed by 9, DAI needed 7 to win the set and clinch the match. He finished with an 8 and will shoot for gold later in the afternoon.   Brady ELLISON (USA/1) v Gael PREVOST (FRA/4) ELLISON is the defending champion from Edinburgh and No. 1 in the world. He won the first three World Cup stages this season. He also won the individual bronze at the Turin World Championships. Interesting about ELLISON is that he switched from compound to recurve in 2005. The young PREVOST, currently ranked 12th in the world at just 17 years old, defeated the No. 3 in the world OH Jin Hyek (KOR) in quarterfinal. He was in the French team that won the silver medal at this year's world championships in Italy and was on several team podiums in World Cup events.   ELLISON had a perfect start with 10, while PREVOST started with 7. The Frenchman then found the way to the yellow with 9-10 (26 points), but this was not (27 points for ELLISON) and he let the first two set points go to the American.     In the second set, PREVOST kept all arrows in the yellow ring (9-10-10) to clinch the set and tie at 2-2. ELLISON also started the set with 9-10 but he followed with an 8. The No. 1 American then took advantage of a 24-point set by his opponent to take back the lead at 4-2 with 27 points.   After PREVOST started with 10-9 and had the fourth set in hand, he needed an 8 to win the set and tie the match. His third arrow was close to the 8-ring, and finally judged as an 8 for a tied score at 4-4! Unfortunately for the young Frenchman, he released a 6 in the final set to let victory go to the World Cup reigning champion who will be able to defend his crown.   Recurve Men – Bronze Medal Match   Gael PREVOST (FRA/4) v Dmytro HRACHOV (UKR/3) The two athletes scored two 8s and one 9 in the first set of this match. The score was tied at 1-1 after three arrows. In the second set, HRACHOV found his way to the yellow with 10-10-9 and a 29-point series offering him two set points and the lead at 3-1.   The third set started well for PREVOST with a 10, but the Frenchman followed with a 6. After he scored a 9 to conclude (25 points), his opponent from Ukraine needed a 10 to tie the set. HRACHOV released a 9, and the set was won by PREVOST who tied at 3-3.   HRACHOV raised the level of his shooting in the final sets. He won the fourth set with a score of 10-10-9 (9-9-7 for PREVOST) to take the lead back at 5-3. The Ukrainian left no chance in the fifth set with a perfect triple 10 series to clinch the bronze medal by 7-3!  Recurve Men – Gold Medal Match   Brady ELLISON (USA/1) v DAI Xiaoxiang (CHN/7) In the first set, the two competitors managed to shoot all their arrows in the yellow. However, the first lead (2-0) was for ELLISON who scored 28 points against 27 for DAI.   After shooting two 9s in the second set, the defending champion from USA needed a 10 to win it. He released another 9 for a tied set and one set point each: 3-1 for ELLISON. The third set was equal again (28 points each) and the American kept his lead, 4-2.   They both started the fourth set with 10-9. DAI was shooting first and released a final 9. Therefore, if ELLISON scored a 10, he would clinch the match and repeat at the World Cup champion…   Drawing out his experience, the world No. 1 recurve archer did it and clinched the World Cup season with another victory (6-2). This is his second win in a row in the World cup Final!   Recurve Women – Semifinals  Deepika KUMARI (IND/3) v Berengere SCHUH (FRA/7) At 17 years old, KUMARI is an amazing talent. She is the 2009 cadet world champion and 2011 junior world champion. At the senior level, she won the individual and team events at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She also won a team silver medal at the Turin World Championships in July. The experienced SCHUH won the team bronze medal at the Beijing Olympic Games and became individual European champion in 2008. She recently placed 4th at the Turin World Championships. She beat KUMARI in semifinal in Shanghai at the beginning of the month before finishing 2nd of the stage.   The wind still blowing strongly on the field in Istanbul to start the afternoon session! However, despite difficult conditions, KUMARI took a good start with 9-9-10. Her 28 points allowed her to win the first set (2-0), since her opponent shot two 8s and a 9 to begin.   The Indian scored the only 10 of the match in the second set. And together with two 8s (26 points), it was enough for KUMARI to add two set points to her total (4-0). SCHUH in fact shot a 6 to finish this set (23). The Frenchwoman seemed too much disturbed by the wind and scored two 7s in the third set. With another 23-point series, she let the set go again and lost 0-6.   JUNG Dasomi (KOR/1) v CHENG Ming (CHN/5) JUNG is among one of the newcomers in the Korean team this season but she is already No. 1 in the world. She brilliantly qualified for the Final in Istanbul thanks to a victory in Antalya and 3rd rank in Porec. After winning the team bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships in Italy back in July, she won the team event one month later at the Summer Universiade in China where she also finished 2nd individually. CHENG won the Ogden stage. It was her victory in the USA that assured her of a spot in the Istanbul Final. She was also individual and team silver medallist at the 2010 Asian Games.   The two archers had a 10 and a 7 each in the first set. However, while JUNG had a poor 6 at her third arrow, CHENG scored an 8 to clinch this set and take the lead at 2-0. The Chinese started the second set perfectly with two 10s, followed by 8. With 28 points, she doubled her advantage at 4-0.   JUNG started strong with a 10 despite strong wind while shooting her first arrow of the third set. She continued with 9-8, and 27 points were enough against 26 for her opponent to get the two set points. The Korean came back at 2-4.   However, JUNG could not do better than 8-9-8 in the fourth set, leaving the door open to CHENG. With a triple 9, the Chinese rushed into it to win the match (6-2) and the right to fight for the World Cup title against the Indian KUMARI!   Recurve Women – Bronze Medal Match   JUNG Dasomi (KOR/1) v Berengere SCHUH (FRA/7) The French competitor took the best start with opening the match with two 10s. She won the first two set points at stake to take the lead, 2-0. But the Korean scored a close-to-perfection second set (29 points) to tie at 2-2.   In the third set, SCHUH needed a 10 to win the set. Holding the pressure perfectly, she released an arrow right in the centre, "bull's eye!" And 4-2 for the Frenchwoman!   While the young Korean seemed to lose track completely in the fourth set (9-8-8), her opponent continued with all three shots in the yellow (10-9-9). SCHUH clinched the set and won the World Cup bronze medal!  Recurve Women – Gold Medal Match   CHENG Ming (CHN/5) v Deepika KUMARI (IND/3) Very good start for the two archers in this match for the World Cup title: 10-10 for each. The decision in this set was made by CHENG who scored a 9 at her third arrow, while her opponent only got an 8. The score was 2-0 for the Chinese.   Dramatic ending in the second set… CHENG had it in hand. She started with 10-9 and needed an 8 to win the set and lead 4-0. But she released a very bad shot that scored 6… only. KUMARI was happy to take the two points at stake and tie the match at 2-2.   In the third set, the Indian took advantage of a 7 by CHENG to take the lead for the first time of the match, 4-2. The third set was reversed with KUMARI shooting a 7 at her first arrow. CHENG won set and came back at 4-4.   The Chinese then opened the final set with a 6 (!), but she followed with two 10s to just clinch a tie (26-26). The match was thus tied as well at 5-5. Shoot-off!   CHENG was shooting first in the tie-break and scored a good 9 close to the 10-ring. The 17-year old KUMARI then needed a 10 to win, but she could not hold the pressure and finished with an 8. And the Chinese CHENG is the new World Cup Final winner!   Archery World Cup Final Facts   Ø       32 individual athletes coming from 15 countries—same number of countries represented at the 2010 World Cup Final in Edinburgh. Ø       10 of the athletes have been world champions Ø       11 athletes already participated in a World Cup Final and 6 already won it (3 were winners in Edinburgh) Ø       Athletes will all play for a share of prize-money and awards totalising more than 150'000 CHF   Check out www.worldarchery.org for the complete coverage of the Archery World Cup Final 2011 in Istanbul!   Ludivine MAITRE WICKI / Didier MIEVILLE World Archery Communication