DAMSBO and JONES make return to World Cup medal matches as Korea steps up compound game

Compound eliminations from the 1/16 round were held Thursday morning at the Yuanshen Stadium, in the form of matches of 15 arrows with cumulative scores. The top ranked archers had a bye into de 1/16 round.

Compound Men 

Top qualifier Martin DAMSBO (photo) of Denmark faced a strong opponent in Mikko JUUTILAINEN (FIN), who started with nine perfect scores. However JUUTILAINEN faltered on the six last arrows while DAMSBO was steady enough to win the match, 148-143. The No. 2 and No. 4 from qualifications, Adam RAVENSCROFT (GBR) and Morten BOE (NOR), also took wins to move to the next round. US archers Dave COUSINS, Braden GELLENTHIEN, Reo WILDE, and Rodger WILLETT Jr all clinched wins to advance. 

Peter ELZINGA (NED) and Michael BROSNAN (AUS) were very close, tied 116-116 before the final three arrows. The Dutch archer then shot three 10s to win the match. Other top European athletes who qualified for the round of 16 are Sergio PAGNI (ITA) - World Cup Final champion from 2009 and 2010 - and Pierre-Julien DELOCHE, European indoor champion. Koreans MIN Lihong and CHOI Yong Hee advanced, while their teammate KIM Jongho, 7th in qualifications, lost to No. 26 seed Rajat CHAUHAN from India. 

All of the 1/8 elimination matches were very close. DAMSBO and ELZINGA were tied at 86-86 after nine arrows, then 114-114. DAMSBO concluded with three 10s to ELZINGA’s 10-9-10 to win the match, 144-143. WILLETT and WILDE were even closer, tying at 86-86, 115-115, then 145-145. Both athletes scored 10s in the shoot-off, but WILDE’s was closer. 

Adam RAVENSCROFT was stopped by COUSINS, who started the match with nine 10s and won by just one point 147-146. Braden GELLENTHIEN (USA), the World Cup Final winner in 2012, advanced past Amir KAZEMPOOR (IRI). BOE defeated DELOCHE, 147-145. 

Korea’s MIN Lihong scored the highest total score of this round at 148, to defeat Ruben BLEYENDAAL (NED). He will be the only Korean in the next round, with his teammate CHOI Yong Hee losing to PAGNI.

The Americans were seemingly unstoppable in the quarterfinals. WILDE produced the most impressive performance with 150 points, more than enough to defeat BOE, who shot a 144. COUSINS shot fourteen 10s and a 9 to defeat Rajat CHAUHAN, 149-146. GELLENTHIEN scored 147 and benefited from several 9s from his opponent MIN Lihong. Only one man from outside the USA will be present in the compound men's medal matches: Martin DAMSBO was superb against PAGNI, whom he defeated 147-143. 

 

Danish team member DAMSBO faced the hard task of meeting Reo WILDE in the semi-final, and he didn’t disappoint: he gained a two-point lead in the first end, which he kept almost until the end. WILDE attempted a comeback in the final end but came up short by 1 point: DAMSBO defeated WILDE for the first time with a score of 146-145. In the other semi-final match, GELLENTHIEN increased his scores from the previous rounds while the opposite happened to COUSINS. The latter was the first one to drop a point, in the second end. COUSINS had a few difficult arrows and scored “only” 145 against GELLENTHIEN’s 147. He will meet WILDE for the bronze medal match, while DAMSBO and GELLENTHIEN will fight for the gold medal. 

Compound Women 

Double world champion Albina LOGINOVA (RUS) easily won her first match of the day. The three Koreans SEOK Ji Hyun, YOUN So Jung, CHOI Bomin won their matches, and so did Erika JONES (photo) of the USA, the latter of whom was the World Cup Final winner in 2011. U.S. archers Carli COCHRAN and Diane WATSON met in a duel won by COCHRAN, 145-143. 60-year-old Pauline BURFITT (GBR), competing in her first World Cup, trailed double World Cup Final winner (2008 & 2012) Jamie VAN NATTA by three points after two ends. She almost managed a comeback over the last nine arrows, but VAN NATTA won, 143-142. 

Canada’s Ashley WALLACE (No. 17) met the Paralympic champion Danielle BROWN (GBR/16). She took a 1-point lead in the third end, and kept it to win the match, 141-140. Iran’s Parsamehr MAHTAB (No. 26) upset the No. 7 ranked archer Inge VAN CASPEL (NED). 

Kira ANDREEVA (RUS/41) was surprising against Marcella TONIOLI (ITA/9): the Russian led 114-113, but the Italian closed the gap (142-142), forcing a shoot-off. The shoot-off was very close, with both athletes scoring 10s, but TONIOLI’s was closer to the centre. Her teammates Laura LONGO and Katia D’AGOSTINO also advanced to the next round. Other marquee archers moving on to the 1/8th include Mexico’s Linda OCHOA – third in qualifications – Iran’s Mino ABEDI (No. 8), and the new star of 2012, Kristina BERGER (GER). 

The 1/8 elimination rounds had many unexpected outcomes. The defending Shanghai champion TONIOLI lost to Iran’s ABEDI (137-143); BERGER was defeated by Korea’s SEOK (133-147); and VAN NATTA lost to another Korean archer, YOUN (142-143) after a very tight match. The third Korean teammate – CHOI Bomin – trailed MAHTAB, who started with a perfect 30, but came back in the third end for a final victory (143-139). LOGINOVA scored a 146 to defeat WALLACE by three points. JONES started strong with nine 10s to defeat Mexico’s Gabriela TREVINO (147-142). LONGO and COCHRAN tied at 56-56, but the American then took the lead in the third end (85-83) and won the match 145-138. Finally, Linda OCHOA scored 89 to D’AGOSTINO’s 88, but the Italian archer closed the gap and took the lead in the final set to win 146-145. 

The quarterfinals saw LOGINOVA evenly matched versus ABEDI. Both athletes scored exactly the same scores, tying at 28-28, 56-56, 84-84, 113-113, and 142-142. They even tied at X10-X10 in the shoot-off! The Russian archer’s arrow was measured closer to the centre, giving her the win. Americans COCHRAN and JONES lived up to the expectations of their fans, winning by large margins over D’AGOSTINO and CHOI, respectively. For the first time, a Korean woman will fight for a compound medal at a World Cup: SEOK defeated her teammate YOUN to advance to the semi-final. 

The first semi-final demonstrated the incredible progress of Korean archers in compound archery. SEOK led No. 1 LOGINOVA from the very first end for a major upset, 144-142. In the other semi-final match, the more experienced JONES outscored teammate and World Cup newcomer COCHRAN in the first three sets to lead comfortably 119-114. However a weak final end from JONES at 9-8-8, and a perfect 30 from COCHRAN meant the match ended in a draw (144-144). JONES saved herself in the shoot-off, winning 10 to 9. “I started out really strong and kind of let it go a little bit then, but I usually feel pretty good about shoot-offs, so I’m just glad that I was able to pull it off in the end”, commented JONES. 

COCHRAN and LOGINOVA will fight for bronze on Sunday, while the gold medal will be decided between JONES and SEOK. Asked if she feels confident for the final, JONES answered “I made it up to the quarter-finals every World Cup last year except one but I went to the medal matches everytime in 2011. This is my first time in a medal match since 2011 so I’m happy to be back and hope it goes well.” 

World Archery Communication