Former Olympic champion loses at London Archery Classic

The Italian, who won in 2004 (Athens) and was team silver medallist in 2008 (Beijing), went out at the 1/32 eliminations, losing 5-6 to Anton PRILEPAU (BLR), who is ranked 206 in the world!   There was nearly an upset in the women’s individual event with HAN Gyeonghee (KOR), the world No. 2, needing a shoot-off to make the 1/8 stage.   HAN, who helped Korea to the gold medal in the team event on Wednesday, beat Kateri VRAKKING (CAN) 6-5 after putting herself in trouble with two uncharacteristic sixes. HAN hit a 10 in the shoot-off to confirm victory with the score tied at 5-5.   Countrywoman KI Bo Bae (KOR) had no problems in her 1/16 eliminations as she only conceded one set point to Carina Rosenvinge CHRISTIANSEN (DEN) on the way to a 7-1 win.   However, there was no escape for five-time Olympian Natalia VALEEVA (ITA) who paid for a slow start and lost to teenager Miranda LEEK (USA) 4-6 in the 1/16 eliminations.   Both the Japanese men and women have been performing strongly this week and that was shown as Takaharu FURUKAWA (JPN) produced another winning show by coming back from two-sets down to upset DAI Xiaoxiang (CHN) 6-2.   The athletes shot their 1/32 and 1/16 individual eliminations matches from Thursday to Saturday. The winners of the 1/16 will come back to Lord’s Cricket Ground on Sunday and Monday for the individual finals sessions.   The matches are shot in the best-of-five sets format. Each set consists of three arrows and is worth two points; each archer gets one point in the case of a tied set. The first archer with six set points wins the match. In the case of a tied match at 5-5 in set points, a one-arrow shoot-off is shot. The winner is the archer whose arrow is closest to centre.   Here are some key notes from the Saturday morning session's matches: - Pedro VIVAS ALCALA (MEX) won bronze at the Shanghai World Cup and finished 6th at the World Cup Final in Istanbul. Seeded No. 11 in London, he faced Maciej FALDZINSKI (POL/54) in the first match of the day. The Mexican pulled rank on his opponent. After a tied first set, he took the lead in the second and never let it go again to win 7-1. - After a slow start, the 2004 Olympic champion Marco GALIAZZO (ITA/22) found the 10-ring at his sixth arrow in 1/32 eliminations against Anton PRILEPAU (BLR/43). Tied at 2-2 after two sets, the two archers continued with three sets exactly the same for each (28, 26 and 29 apiece) for a tied score at 5-5. In the shoot-off, the Italian released a 9, but his opponent from Belarus scored a perfect 10 to clinch a surprising victory! - Two young ladies on the field for the first female match of the day. The 18-year old Miranda LEEK (USA/24) was 9th at the Youth World Championships this year and at the Youth Olympic Games in 2010. The American had a straight 3-set victory, 6-0, over Celine SCHOBINGER (SUI/41), 22 years old. - The advantage of the ranking was on VIVAS ALCALA's side (11) in his 1/16 round against PRILEPAU (43). But the latter could rely on the fact that he had just upset the 2004 Olympic champion GALIAZZO. The match was tied after three sets, 3-3, but the Mexican took the lead 5-3 before the final set and finally clinched victory 6-4. - The experienced Italian Natalia VALEEVA, many times medallist at World Championships and Olympic Games, seeded No. 9, was exempt from the first round. Against LEEK in 1/16, it took her five arrows to find her way to the 10-ring, and after trailing 0-2, she tied at 2-2. Again VALEEVA trailed 2-4 but came back 4-4. But in the final set, 28 by the Italian were not enough against the 29 by the 18-year old American for another upset! - Another face-to-face encounter between two young athletes: Haziq KAMARUDDIN (MAS/38), 18 years old, and TIEN Kang (TPE/29), turning 20 at the end of the month. With only three arrows out of the yellow in four sets, the youngest competitor won this 1/32 match 6-2. - Khatuna NARIMANIDZE (GEO/25) and Kateri VRAKKING (CAN/40), both 37 year old, were tied at 2-2 after two sets in 1/32 eliminations. The scores remained quite low in the first three sets (26 at the highest), and the Canadian was decisive in the fourth set with 28 for a 6-2 win. - Exempt from the first round, Juan Rene SERRANO (MEX/6) was mixed team's silver medallist at the World Championships in July. He faced the young Malay KAMARUDDIN, 18, in 1/16 elimination at the Test Event in London. While SERRANO shot three arrows out of the yellow in this match, KAMARUDDIN had only one out. Moreover, the latter scored a perfect 30-point fourth set to upset his more experienced opponent 6-2! - The No. 2 in the world and No. 8 seed in London HAN Gyeonghee (KOR), winner of the World Cup Stage 1 this year and world championships team bronze medallist, suffered from two bad 6 in the second and third sets and trailed 3-5 after four sets against the Canadian VRAKKING. The Korean managed to recover, however, to tie at 5-5 and get out of it thanks to a 10 in the shoot-off. - Siosifa TAUMOEPEAU (TGA/58), with no coach behind him on the field, had the difficult challenge to face DAI Xiaoxiang (CHN/7), silver medallist at the Istanbul World Cup Final two weeks ago. With two misses, two arrows in the white ring (1-2), three in the 5-ring and only two arrows in the red zone (7-8), the archer from Tonga could not hope for anything but a straight 3-set defeat against his opponent from China. - Two-time Olympian (Athens and Beijing) Takaharu FURUKAWA (JPN/26) trailed 2-4 after three sets against Aki VIRTANEN (FIN/39). But he recovered with only 10s and 9s in the final two sets, tied the match and finally clinched victory 6-4. - A 1/32 round between two young ladies: Kateryna YAVORSKA (UKR), 21 years old, made her international debut this year at the Ogden World Cup where she won the team event. The Ukrainian faced Carina Rosenvinge CHRISTIANSEN (DEN), 20, who finished 9th in the individual, team and mixed team events this year at the Youth World Championships. It was a closely-fought game that needed a shoot-off at 5-5! The Dane finally won with a 9 against a 6 for her opponent. - The highest seeded archer of this 1/16 match, DAI Xiaoxiang (CHN/7), was upset by Takaharu FURUKAWA (JPN/26). Trailing 0-2, the Japanese went on winning three consecutive sets to win 6-2 and advance to the 1/8 eliminations. - The world No. 3 KI Bo Bae (KOR/5), team gold medallist at this year's World Championships and early this week in London, let only 1 set point go to her opponent of the day, the Dane CHRISTIANSEN: victory 7-1 in 1/16 eliminations!   Here are some key notes from the Saturday afternoon session's matches: - Maxim KUNDA (BLR) finished 13th at the Beijing Olympic Games at the age of 19. In 1/32 eliminations in London he was lower ranked, 42nd, than his opponent Taylor WORTH (AUS), 23rd. Aged 20, the Australian was team youth world champion in 2008 and won the team event at the Commonwealth Games last year. His opponent from Belarus led 5-1 after three sets, but WORTH came back at 5-3 thanks to a fantastic 30-point fourth set. He lost it all, however, with only 26 to finish the match. Victory 7-3 for KUNDA! - Joe FANCHIN (USA), winner of World Cup Stage 4 winner and 5th at the World Cup Final this year, entered his 1/32 match as the favourite against Andrei AURAMCHYK (BLR/55). The American clinched victory in three straight sets, 6-0. - The revelation of this season as individual senior level, Inna STEPANOVA (RUS), 21 years old, World Cup Final qualifier where she finished 6th, only found the good pace in the third and fourth sets. But this was too late against Kaori KAWANAKA (JPN), who clinched the match at 6-2. - The American FANCHIN faced KUNDA from Belarus in 1/16 eliminations. The difference in the ranking, No 10 and 42 seeds respectively, was obvious on the field, and FANCHIN clinched a straight win 6-0. - The local favourite Alison WILLIAMSON (GBR) played against KAWANAKA in her first match having received a bye in the 1/32 eliminations as she was 12th in the ranking round. The five-time Olympian from the host country paid cash a bad start and trailed 0-4 and then 1-5. Despite coming back at 3-5, WILLIAMSON scored a bad 7 in the last set, together with two 10s, and lost 3-7 to the Japanese, who ranked 44th on Monday but has advanced to the 1/8 round. - The highest ranked and more experienced competitor came out the winner in the 1/32 match between Luis Eduardo VELEZ SANCHEZ (MEX/15) and Vetle RISINGGARD (NOR/50): 7-3 for the South American. - After a very bad start (22 in the first set), Michele FRANGILLI (ITA/18), world championships team bronze medallist this year on home soil, lived up to his rank against Jeff HENCKELS (LUX/47). He tied at 2-2 and 3-3, and then took the lead for the first time of the match at 5-3. However, with a 26 final set, he saw his opponent from Luxembourg come back at 5-5 for a shoot-off. Both tie-break arrows were 9s, close to each other, but at the end FRANGILLI's was measured the closest to the centre for victory. - The best start in the 1/32 elimination match between Alice INGLEY (AUS), 18 years old, and Magali FOULON (ESP), 23, was for the Australian who led 4-0. But thanks to four 10s in the following two sets, the Spaniard managed to come back at 4-4. A 5 by the Australian to open the final set and game over, 4-6! - The Italian FRANGILLI and the Mexican VELEZ SANCHEZ facing each other in 1/16 eliminations. The two competitors were close in rank, No. 18 and 15 seeds respectively, but not in this match, as the South American won in three straight sets, 6-0! - Nami HAYAKAWA (JPN/13) received a bye in the 1/32 eliminations and faced the Iberian FOULON in 1/16. After scoring only 23 each in the first set, the two ladies raised their level in the second. The European contender took the lead, 3-1, with 28 against 27 for the Asian. But with 24 and 26 in the following sets, FOULON let HAYAKAWA level the score at 3-3, take the lead at 5-3 and finally clinch victory at 7-3. - Close by the rank, close they remained in their 1/32 match: Elias CUESTA (ESP/31) and CHEN Wenyuan (CHN/34) were tied at 5-5 and needed a tie-break to decide who would advance! The two shot a liner 10, which had to be measured! Finally, victory for the Chinese by a whisker! - As it was getting darker on the field due to the weather conditions, two-time Olympian (2004 and 2008) YUAN Shu Chi (TPE/29) seemed to have difficulties getting used to the worsening luminosity, scoring 22 in the first and fourth sets. Guendalina SARTORI (ITA/36), team world champion this year on home soil, showed more consistent shooting to win the match 6-2. - Khairul Anuar MOHAMAD (MAS) succeeded against expectation in the ranking round, finishing 2nd. Having received a bye in the 1/32 eliminations, the archer from Malaysia made short work of his opponent in 1/16, the archer from China CHEN: 6-0! - The final match of the day and last 1/16 elimination of the event featured LE Chieh-Ying (TPE/4), 21 years old, against the Italian SARTORI, who defeated another competitor from Chinese Taipei, YUAN Shu Chi, in the previous round. After a tight match tied at 4-4, LE failed to live up to her ranking round of four and lost 4-6 to SARTORI. In this match, the Italian released all but two arrows (both in the first set) in the yellow!   On Sunday, 9 October, the individual competition continues for women with the 1/8 Eliminations followed by the quarterfinals, bronze and gold medal matches.   LOCOG / World Archery Communication