Team elimination rounds: the tide turns for Korea

The team eliminations took place this morning at the Shanghai World Cup. In recurve, teams are made of three archers, who shoot matches of four ends of six arrows with cumulative scores. Matches started from the 1/8 elimination rounds through to semi-finals; top qualifiers had a bye into quarter-finals.

In compound, teams are made of three archers, who shoot matches of four ends of six arrows, with cumulative scores. Matches started from the 1/8 elimination rounds through to semi-finals. The top qualifiers had a bye into quarter-finals. 

Recurve Men 

The only team among the eight highest qualifiers who didn’t make it past the 1/8 round was Japan, defeated by surprising No. 10 Malaysia (207-221). As expected, Korea displayed the best score among all teams in the 1/8 round at 226, and reached 224 in quarter-finals to pass Italy (216). No. 2 China, led by Olympic bronze medallist DAI Xiaoxang, overcame Malaysia in quarter-finals with a score that was second only to Korea (223). World championships team silver medallists Thomas AUBERT, Gaël PREVOST, Jean-Charles VALLADONT scored a high 222 to defeat No. 4 India, who had a bad first end. The tightest quarter-final was between the Netherlands (photo), seeded No. 3, and the USA (No. 6). After a tie at 55-55, the European champions lost three points to their opponents and trailed 109-112. However a bad third end by the USA (51 points) reduced the gap to one point. Olympic team silver medallists Brady ELLISON and Jake KAMINSKI, along with Joe FANCHIN, concluded the match with a good 56, but the Netherlands were unstoppable with 59. Victory 221-219 for Sjef VAN DEN BERG, Rick VAN DEN OEVER and Rick VAN DER VEN! 

The first semi-final was a rematch of the World Championships gold medal match. France outscored Korea 54-53 in the first end, but the team made of LEE Seungyun, Olympic champion OH Jin Hyek and World No. 2 IM Dong Hyun came back with 57 points to tie after two ends, and took a 2-point advantage in the third end. Both teams shot their best scores in the last end (58), bringing the final score to 225-223 for Korea. The Netherlands had low scores in the other semi-final against China, who won 220-210. 

Korea and China – the top two qualifiers – will meet up in the gold medal match, while the bronze medal match will be between the top young teams from Europe, France and the Netherlands. 

The Dutch archer Sjef VAN DEN BERG said: “We had some good, some bad matches. I think we will be on form for the final. I love this team; we have two European titles in our pockets so we look forward to Sunday. No one cares about the score; we just want to win that bronze!” 

Recurve Women 

The first round left no surprise, as the eight highest seeded teams all advanced to quarter-finals. No. 1 Korea, with double Olympic champion KI Bo Bae, top qualifier CHANG Hye Jin, and former World Cup Final winner YUN Ok-Hee, had relatively low scores in the first round (213), but improved their total to 222 in quarter-finals to defeat Russia. Meanwhile, Mexico, with Olympic medallists Mariana AVITIA and Aida ROMAN and newcomer Mariana GARCIA, led Chinese Taipei (photo) until the last end, when disastrous shooting (46 points) offered victory to their opponents. Another match with an unexpected outcome was the quarter-final between No. 3 China and No. 6 Ukraine. After a tie at the halfway mark, the host country, led by Olympic team silver medallist FANG Yuting, suffered in the third end with only 53 points, allowing Ukraine to build the gap and win the match. Finally, Germany (No. 2) outscored India by 10 points to advance to the semi-finals. 

The first semi-final between Korea and Chinese Taipei started with low scores from both teams (51-51), and it was Chinese Taipei who surprised by taking the lead in the second end (56-55) and increasing it in the third end (56-53). Korea was superb in the final end but their score of 58 was matched by their opponents. Surprising victory 221-217 for Chinese Taipei! The scores of the second semi-final were significantly lower, with Ukraine overcoming Germany 215-206. 

The team led by Viktoriya KOVAL will challenge Chinese Taipei for the gold medal, whereas Korea will be the huge favourite in the bronze medal match against Germany. 

“We cannot always be 100%, we did not judge the wind perfectly”, commented YUN Ok-Hee. “Even though we lost, we are not disappointed with the result. This World Cup stage is just preparation for the World Championships later in the year.” 

Compound Men 

All teams had a bye into quarter-finals, except for Philippines who defeated Hong Kong in the 1/8 elimination round. The United States (photo), seeded No. 1, could count on world No. 1 Reo WILDE, World Cup Final winner Braden GELLENTHIEN, and former winner Rodger WILLETT, Jr. With 230 points; they won their quarterfinal easily against Philippines. However the highest scoring team of that round was No. 2 seed Korea. KIM Jongho, MIN Lihong, YANG Youngho totalled 233 points to defeat Iran. No. 3 seed Italy, with former World Cup Final winner Sergio PAGNI, faced strong resistance from Mexico (No. 6). The two teams tied at the halfway mark and were only one point apart before the last six arrows. Mexico faltered at that stage with 55, and Italy scored 58 to win the match. Finally, No. 4 Australia easily qualified over No. 5 India (229-223). 

The Australians gave a hard time to the U.S. men in the first semi-final, tying them at the halfway mark. The Americans gained a point in the third end which they kept through the end for victory 233-232. Korea scored lower than in the previous rounds (“only” 229) while Italy had their best match so far with 232 points. Mauro BOVINI, Luigi DRAGONI and Sergio PAGNI will challenge the “unbeatable” Americans in the gold medal match, while in the bronze medal match, the Koreans will have a shot at their first World Cup compound team medal against Australia. 

“This is our first time against the Korean team in an international event and we can say that their level is higher than what we expected”, commented the Italians. “On the other hand, a lot of strong European teams are missing here. It will be really interesting to see what happens in the next World Cup events.” 

Compound Women 

Two upsets occurred in the 1/8 round when Australia defeated Russia, and Great Britain lost to Hong Kong. In quarter-finals, India (No. 5) shot a superb first end at 59 to take the lead over Mexico (No. 4) and increased it to win the match 230-224. Korea (photo) posted the same total to defeat Iran. The U.S. ladies Carli COCHRAN, Erika JONES and Jamie VAN NATTA, seeded No. 1, scored even higher (231) to beat Australia by 15 points. This score was matched by Italy, who had a strong team made of Katia D’AGOSTINO and former Shanghai champions Laura LONGO and Marcella TONIOLI. After an easy quarter-final against Hong Kong, Italy faced a much harder opponent in the semi-final: the surprising Korean ladies. Korea’s weaker ends – 58 points – were the same total as the Italian’s best end, for a victory 234-227. Interestingly, CHOI Bomin, SEOK Ji Hyun and YOUN So Jung would have defeated the U.S. men in all of today’s team rounds with their score! The other semi-final saw USA build a three-point gap on India over the first three ends. They had a weaker last end at 56, against India’s 58, but it was just enough to avoid a shoot-off and win the match 228-227.

 The gold medal match promises to be a beautiful battle between Korea and USA. It will be the second shot at gold for SEOK and JONES, who will face each other in the individual final. Just as last year, Italy will face India for the bronze medal. 

“We lost against Korea, but we are very happy of our overall performance”, commented the Italians with a smile. “We shot the first match very well and now we lost against the top scorers on the field. We have to admit that some arrows weren’t exactly the best we ever shot (smiles). We want to have the same performance as last year and keep the bronze medal in Italy.” 

World Archery Communication