Some favourites fall in first rounds of eliminations

Recurve Men 

The major surprise of the first round was the upset of Olympic team champion Michele FRANGILLI (ITA) by the No. 65 Johan WEISS (DEN). FRANGILLI trailed 1-5 after three sets, but then scored six 10s in a row to come back at 5-5. The Danish archer won the shoot-off 8 to 6. 

In the 1/24 elimination round, however, Johan WEISS was defeated by 2008 Olympic champion Viktor RUBAN (UKR). Another Olympic champion was on the field: Richard “Butch” JOHNSON, team gold medallist at Atlanta 1996, making his return to the U.S. World Cup team at 57 years old. The American lost in straight sets to Australia’s Taylor WORTH (No. 22). “The competition in Shanghai is going good so far”, commented the Australian. “Qualifications yesterday have been OK, and today I shot a solid match against an ever tough competitor. It is never easy to win against someone with the experience of Butch [JOHNSON]. Tomorrow, I will play against Brady ELLISON another time! Of course, my victory against him in London brings out some nice memories. However, I only want to focus on tomorrow’s match.” 

Another interesting duel was the rematch of the Field Archery World Championships gold medal match between Jake KAMINSKI (USA/32) and Jean-Charles VALLADONT (FRA/33). The outcome was the same as in Val d’Isere, with the French archer taking an easy victory, 7-1. China lost their highest ranked archer at this stage, when YU Xing (No. 10) was defeated by Russia’s Bair TSYBEKDORZHIEV. All the other favourites from qualifications advanced to the 1/16 round. 

Recurve Women 

There were no surprises in the women’s competition with all of the favourites winning their 1/48 elimination matches. In the 1/24 elimination round, Olympic bronze medallist Mariana AVITIA (MEX) trailed European champion 2010 Natalia ERDYNIEVA (RUS) 0-4, but made an impressive comeback, winning the next three sets for victory, 6-4. AVITIA’s Olympic teammate, Panamerican champion Alejandra VALENCIA (MEX), lost to Olympic team silver medallist CHENG Ming (CHN). For the third time, Tatiana SEGINA (RUS) met Guendalina SARTORI (ITA). The Russian took the lead in the second set (3-1) but her opponent came back. SEGINA concluded the fourth set with a 10 to take back the lead (5-3). The fifth set ended up in a tie, which gave a sixth set point to SEGINA and the victory. Ukrainian Olympian Viktoriya KOVAL, making her return to the World Cup after having a baby, lost to Russia’s Kristina TIMOFEEVA. Finally, Miranda LEEK (USA/No. 49) lost to Germany’s Elena RICHTER (No 16). 

Compound Men 

Two major upsets occurred in the 1/24 round. Shaun TEASDALE (NZL), winner of the Shanghai stage in 2010, lost his duel to the No. 42 Gerardo ALVARADO (MEX). After a tie at 88-88 after nine arrows, ALVARADO gained a two-point difference over the last six arrows, winning the match 146-144. The world No. 3 Dominique GENET (FRA), facing HARIDAS of India, led during most part of the match and had one-point lead 114-113. However the Frenchman lost his advantage in the last end: HARIDAS scored 30 points to win 143-142. Korea’s YANG Youngho, No. 21, faced WO Tang Kam (No. 44) from Hong Kong. The latter won the match by hitting the bull’s eye in the shoot-off. 

Compound Women 

All of the favourites won their 1/24 final round in this category. In an interesting British dual, the 60-year-old Pauline BURFITT, competing in her first World Cup, faced her more experienced teammate Lucy HOLDERNESS. She trailed throughout the match, but raised her level on the last three arrows to clinch the match 139-137. 

Eliminations continue until Friday at Yuanshen stadium, while the finals will be staged downtown at the Huangpu River shores, in the spectacular Pudong district, on Saturday and Sunday. Stay tuned for our live coverage on our website, facebook and twitter! 

World Archery Communication