Korea take gold at the London Archery Classic

  Second place for China, while Great Britain lost the bronze medal match against Japan.   HAN Gyeonghee , JUNG Dasomi and KI Bo Bae beat the USA and Japan on the way to a gold medal win over the China team of CHENG Ming (CHN), FANG Yuting (CHN), XU Jing (CHN)  just a day after the men were surprise losing finalists to the USA.   The bronze medal match was won by Japan. Nami  HAYAKAWA, her sister Ren HAYAKAWA  and Kaori KAWANAKA overcame Great Britain. The British team of Naomi FOLKARD, Amy OLIVER and Alison WILLIAMSON had earlier caused a shock by beating second-ranked Chinese Taipei  but they could not sustain that form against Japan.   The matches are played with 4 ends of 6 arrows with cumulative scores. Here is a recap of the semifinals, bronze medal and gold medal match.   Women 1/8 eliminations Women's teams 1/8 eliminations took place on Wednesday morning. In the first match the USA beat Ukraine after a shoot-off measurement. The score was tied at 200-200. Then both teams scored 27 in the shoot-off (both teams having a 10). After the judge measurement one arrow from the USA was the closest to centre, giving them the victory. Denmark easily defeated Georgia 207-195. Japan took revenge over Switzerland (they were defeated by the Swiss at the last World Cup stage in Shanghai), 213-207. Poland had a nice score (217) to defeat Belarus (202). Finally, the British hosts defeated the Italian world champions! Score evolution: 53-50, 104-100, 157-151, 203-200.   Women Quarterfinals Women's team quarterfinals began in the afternoon session. Korea was not surprised by the USA this time (the American men won yesterday). The Korean ladies won 212-198. Japan dominated Denmark, 210-179. China played a close match against Poland and finally prevailed 56-55, 113-108, 164-159 and 215-212. Great Britain took a decisive lead over Chinese Taipei halfway through the match. The British led 108-100 and did not let go in the second half to win 208-200.   Semifinal – Korea (KOR/1) v Japan (JPN/4) The No. 1 seeded Koreans took progressively the best of the No. 4 Japan. The favourites of Korea led 57-56, 114-111, 170-165 and finally won the match 225-217.   Semifinal – China (CHN/3) v Great Britain (GBR/7) Amy OLIVER started well for Great Britain with a 10! However the team followed up with 8-8-8-7-8. China shot 8-9-9-10-9-9 to take the lead immediately 54-49. OLIVER shot two other 10s in the second end to help team going to 98 points. However China was again superior with 9-10-9-8-10-10 . The Chinese athletes had a comfortable lead half way through the match, 110-98. Great Britain shot better in the third end (9-9-9-10-10-9 – 56 points) to slightly come back, 154-165. However, the No. 3 seed China finished with 9-9-10-9-9-7 to win 218-203.   Bronze – Japan (JPN/4) v Great Britain (GBR/7) Great Britain kept having problems with finding the yellow as OLIVER/WILLIAMSON/FOLKARD scored 8-9-6-8-9-7 in the first end. KAWANAKA/N. HAYAKAWA/ R. HAYAKAWA had 8-10-9-8-9-9 to take a strong lead 53-47. Great Britain however turned on the heat in the second end with 8-8-10-10-10-10, while Japan shot a 5 and 9-9-9-10-8. It was an even game, 103-103! The Japanese scored a 6 in the third end (very low in the target) with 10-9-9-8-10. The British shot 8-9-9-9-7-10. The match was still tied, at 155-155. Japan shot 9-10-9 with their first three arrows of the last end. Great Britain had 9-8-9. KAWANAKA/N. HAYAKAWA/ R. HAYAKAWA finished with 7-7-9. OLIVER/WILLIAMSON/FOLKARD finished with a… 3 and two 8s. Japan won the bronze medal, 206-200!   Gold – Korea (KOR/1) v China (CHN/3) Korea and China, the two women powerhouses of archery! For instance, they met in the team gold medal matches in the last two Olympic Games (two victories for Korea, who have won no less than the six team Olympic titles awarded in history). This time, China took the best start; 54-53 after six arrows. However the Chinese scored two 6s in the second end (9-6-8-6-9-10), while the Koreans had 10-8-9-9-9-8 to turn the situation around, 106-102. Then they scored 10-9-8-9-10-10 to accentuate their lead, 162-155. FANG/XU/CHENG shot 8-10-9-10-8-8 in the last end for a total of 208 points. HAN/JUNG/KI finished in style with 10-10-9-9-10-10 to reach 220 points and win the gold medal!   On Thursday 6 October, the individual competition starts with men and women in the 1/32 and 1/16 eliminations.   LOCOG / World Archery Communication