« Rendez-vous » for ELLISON and IM!

  The individual recurve matches are played out the best of 5 sets of 3 arrows. There are 2 points per set to be earned. A tie in the set awards one point to each athlete. The first archer to 6 six set points wins the match! If the regulation number of sets (5) ends at 5-5 set points, there is a one-arrow only shoot-off, closest to centre wins!   Recurve Men   Gael PREVOST (FRA/7) v Dmytro HRACHOV (UKR/2) Gael PREVOST (FRA) was knocked out of the Olympics by a Ukrainian team member, but it is not Victor RUBAN he faced here in Tokyo; it is Victor’s teammate Dmytro HRACHOV. HRACHOV does outrank PREVOST in both the Archery World Cup and world rankings, but with the pressure on there is no telling who will be victorious. Both athletes were at the World Cup Final in Istanbul last year where HRACHOV beat PREVOST for bronze, 7-3. In total, Ukraine’s HRACHOV leads 2-0 in the head-to-head matches. HRACHOV does out rank PREVOST in both the world cup and world rankings but when the pressure on there is no telling who will be victorious.   In Tokyo, PREVOST was indeed superb in this match, not leaving the yellow one single time. He scored sets of 29, 29, 28, 28. HRACHOV was not bad per say but his sets of 27, 29, 27, 26 were simply not enough. The Frenchman prevailed 7-1.   KIM Woojin (KOR/6) v Larry GODFREY (GBR/3) GBR’s Larry GODFREY was looking to make up for a disappointing home Games this summer in London and in the first round faced long-standing rival KIM Woojin (KOR). KIM missed out on making the bronze medal winning Korean team, despite being the reigning world champion. KIM and GODFREY have met twice before and both times KIM has not let GODFREY take a single set point, so GODFREY is hoping it won’t become three in a row.   Both archers shot very well in the first set! GODFREY scored 9-10-10, but WOOJIN was perfect with 10-10-10 to take the first set! Both archers could not keep it quite as well when they scored 25 points in the second set. WOOJIN led 3-1.   Another 7 by GODFREY at the start of the third set did not help his cause, despite following it with two 9s. WOOJIN found the yellow again with 9-9-10 to take a 5-1 lead in the match.   GODFREY shot well in the fourth set with 9-9-10 but WOOJIN matched it with 9-10-9 to advance to the semifinal, 6-2. GODFREY still has to win a set in his career versus WOOJIN.   Luis ALVAREZ (MEX/5) v Brady ELLISON (USA/4) Luis ALVAREZ (MEX) exploded onto the archery scene in 2012 with a dominating win at the third stage of the Archery World Cup in Ogden, USA. He was then added to the Mexican Olympic Team at the last moment, taking 17th place individually; his team got within 2 points of making the final. In the end they just missing out on a medal, finishing 4th. This was not the case for ALVAREZ’s opponent here in the first round, world No. 1 Brady ELLISON (USA). ELLISON’s team took the silver medal but his 2nd round exit individually must have left him feeling disappointed.  A good performance here in Tokyo would certainly feel very good. In fact, a victory in Tokyo would also mean that ELLISON would be the first archer to win three Archery World Cup Finals in a row!   ELLISON had a strong start with 9-10-10 to take the first set compared to 10-9-8 for ALVAREZ. The Mexican did not find quite his rhythm in the second set with 9-7-9 and the American built a 4-0 lead with 8-9-9.   The rain was getting stronger and stronger during this match and that may have been too much for the young Mexican. ALVAREZ scored 8-7-10 in the third set. ELLISON was more consistent with 9-9-9 to earn a straight set victory, 6-0.   IM Dong Hyun (KOR/1) v Takaharu FURUKAWA (JPN/8) Korea’s IM Dong Hyun must be coming into this World Cup Final looking for some Olympic revenge. The world No. 2, but entering the competition as No. 1 in the World Cup ranking, stamped his mark on the ranking round at the London Games. He shot a new world and Olympic record of 699, beating his old record by 3 points and taking the top spot going in to the eliminations matches. But those eliminations did not go well, with his team having to settle for bronze, despite being ranked No. 1 in the team event as well. Individually, IM only just made the top ten at the Olympic Games. He would be looking for more world record shooting consistency here; however, his first match was tougher, in theory, than he bargained for.   His quarterfinal opponent, Japan’s Takaharu FURUKAWA, is only at this year’s World Cup Final as a host nation wild card entry, but after his fantastic individual silver medal at London 2012 no one was writing off his chances here in his home country. Maybe, the rain ruined a bit FURUKAWA’s plan.   Heavy rain has never disturbed IM Dong Hyun, since he shot a world record in Shanghai under pouring rain in 2011. He was supreme in this match and did not leave the yellow. IM won it over FURUKAWA 6-0 (28-26, 30-26, 27-25).   Recurve Women   LIN Chia-En (TPE/7) v KI Bo Bae (KOR/2) Chinese Taipei’s LIN Chia-En was a late entry after China’s withdrawal but her bronze medal at the 2nd World Cup leg in Antalya Turkey shows she means business and is a real medal prospect. However, the first round challenge was none the less than a first round draw against double London Olympic gold medalist and world No. 1 KI Bo Bae (KOR).   It was raining quite hard this morning and adapting to it would be a factor. LIN took the best start and won the first set 26-24, but KI came back strong in the second set with 9-10-10 to tie the match at 2-2. The Korean continued on a nice fashion with 10-10-9 to take the lead 4-2, despite some good shooting from LIN (9-9-10 in the second and 9-9-9 in the third).   LIN could not put any pressure on the fourth set with 8-9-7. KI was on a roll with 10-10-10 to clinch the match 6-2!   CHOI Hyeonju (KOR/3) v Alejandra VALENCIA (MEX/6)   This World Cup Final in Tokyo is the first major international event in outdoor archery since the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and there are a lot of Olympic scores to settle. Alejandra VALENCIA was the only Mexican woman to leave London without a medal, as her teammates Aida ROMAN and Mariana AVITIA won silver and bronze respectively. VALENCIA met a team gold medalist from those Games, Korea’s CHOI Hyeonju in the quarterfinal.   The two athletes started with 10-8-9 to share the first set. Then CHOI continued with 10-9-8, while VALENCIA scored 9-9-9. Match was at 2-2.   CHOI scored 27 points again in the third set, but VALENCIA could up her game a little bit with 9-9-10 and take a 4-2 lead. However the Mexican shot a 6 in the fourth (10-6-8), while the Korean was really consistent with another 27 to tie the match at 4-4.   CHOI opened the fifth set with a 9. VALENCIA found a good 10. CHOI scored a 10! The Mexican shot an 8 and lost the lead! CHOI needed a 10 to clinch the match with her last arrow. It was a liner 10, but it counts the same! VALENCIA finished with an 8. CHOI won the match 6-4 to advance to the semifinal.   Jennifer NICHOLS (USA/5) v Kristina TIMOFEEVA (RUS/4) American archer and newly wed Jennifer NICHOLS-HARDY faced top Russian athlete Kristina TIMOFEEVA. This is not the first tie these athletes have met; they shot off for 1st place at the last World Cup stage in Ogden, just a few months back. That time it was the young upcoming Russian who was victorious.   Both athletes started the match on a high fashion with 29 points. They could not keep it quite as well in the second set. TIMOFEEVA scored 7-8-8 and the 8-8-10 of NICHOLS were enough to take a 3-1 lead in the match.   The Russian took the third set 27-25 to tie it at 3-3, before both archers scored 8-8-8 in the fourth set. The match was tied at 4-4 going into the decisive set!   TIMOFEEVA started the fifth set with a 9. NICHOLS shot a 10. The Russian scored an 8. The American scored an 8. TIMOFEEVA finished with an 8. Jennifer NICHOLS-HARDY needed a 9 to win the match at the last arrow and she did, 6-4!   Deepika KUMARI (IND/1) v Miki KANIE (JPN/8) Japanese archer Miki KANIE (JPN) was hoping to repeat the home success of Yumiko HONDA who, despite being unranked, took out world champion and world No. 1 Albina LOGINOVA in the women’s compound competition yesterday. KANIE competed against Deepika KUMARI from India. KUMARI is world No. 2 and had a 1st place at Stage 2 in Antalya, Turkey, this season.   The Japanese did not start the match well with a 6 (and 8-9). KUMARI took advantage of it to take the first set with 7-9-9. Then both archers shot 26 points and the Indian athlete led 3-1.   KANIE did not help her cause finishing the third set with a 5. KUMARI was strong with 10-10-9 to take a 5-1 lead.   The rain must have been difficult to adapt to for the Japanese as she shoot a few more arrows low in the target in the fourth set (9-8-7). KUMARI was more “in line” with the middle of the target to score 8-10-9. She won the match 7-1.   Mixed Team Final: Japan v USA   After the compound yesterday, Japan met again the USA in the mixed team final. The match was played out of 16 arrows with cumulative score. The American pair of ELLISON/NICHOLS took the best start over FURUKAWA/KANIE. Japan had one bad arrow in the first end: 8-9-8-9 à 9-9-5-9. At that time, the USA led 34-32 and they kept increasing their lead: 68-61, 96-91 and finally 143-127.   Individual semifinals and finals are played this afternoon!   Michael PEART / Didier MIEVILLE World Archery Communication