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A bit of history
The fall of an empire is systematically synonym of great battles, as the one delivered by the Ottoman Empire army, led by Sultan Mehmed II in 1453, for taking the ancient Constantinople to the Byzantine Empire, which was also named Eastern Roman Empire. The siege of the Ottoman army last 54 days, from 6 April to 29 May 1453; day which corresponds with the fall of Constantinople, the extinction of the Byzantine Empire and the final end of the Roman Empire.
This thrilling competition will precisely take place 29 May which features a recurve showdown between Europe and Asia, not far away from the Bosphorus shores; link of the two continents in its southern limit between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea. Okmeydani, literally means archery field in Turkish, is the chosen venue for this competition. Okmeydani is also full of history.
As per historical records, Okmeydani was first set as headquarters by Mehmed II during the siege of the city. After the catch of Constantinople, Ottomans used it as an archery practice field.
Afterwards, the field was extended under the reign of Sultan Bayezid I, before entering into a period of decline and serious damages (fires, earthquakes) until the reign of Mahmud II, representing Okmeydani golden age, around the beginning of XIX century. In 1896, a new earthquake would then overwhelm again Okmeydani.
It was only during the 1930s, corresponding with the ever-present Atatürk, founder and father of the Republic of Turkey, that a new attempt of revival was given to the site. Unfortunately, after the death of Atatütk, the destiny of Okmeydani seemed to be sealed. Nowadays, thanks to the joint efforts of the Istanbul Local Authority, the Archery Sports and Education Foundation, and the Turkish Archery Federation, the Okmeydani site just became revitalised, culminating with the contest of this great Europe-Asia challenge.
The competition
This new competition will take place on Tuesday 28 (official training) and Wednesday 29 May. Europe and Asia select four men and four women each to challenge each other in individual, team and mixed team matches, as for the golf Ryder Cup.
The European side consists of, remarkable contenders: Italian 2004 individual Olympic Champion and 2012 team Olympic Champion Marco GALIAZZO; Dutch Rick VAN DER VEN, ranked 4th in the 2012 Olympic event and current European Champion; Russian Natalia ERDYNIEVA, 2008 Olympian and holder of many World Cup and World Championships medals; and young talent Gaël PREVOST (FRA), ranked 8th at the London Olympic Games and bronze medallist at the World Cup Final last year. The complete team on the shooting line also features Turks Begül LOKLUOGLU and Fatih BOZLAR; and experienced Christine BJERENDAL (SWE) and Naomi FOLKARD (GBR).
The Asian team will also be very competitive, thanks to the presence of several Olympic medallists: Korean triple gold medallist YUN Mi-Jin (photo), first individually and in the team event in 2000, and in the team event in 2004; fellow KIM Bubmin, team bronze medallist in 2012; and Japanese Ren HAYAKAWA, team bronze medallist in 2012. Also selected Japanese Yu ISHIZU, Indians Atul VERMA and Padya Wati SARDAR, and athletes from Chinese Taipei LIN Chia-En and KUO Cheng-Wei, winner of three World Cup gold medals.
Europe will be coached by Russian Stanislav ZABRODSKI (two-time Olympian and World Champion in 1989); current Italian coach, Dutch Wietse VAN ALTEN (bronze medallist in 2000), will be the team captain. Asia will be coached by Korean KOO Ja Chung, and coaches from Chinese Taipei CHIN Kuei-Fang and LIN Cheng-Hsein.
European selection:
Begül LOKLUOGLU (TUR), 24 years old
Olympian – London 2012
Fatih BOZLAR (TUR), 22 years old
5th at the European Grand Prix of Sofia - 2012
Marco GALIAZZO (ITA), 30 years old
Team Olympic Champion – London 2012
Individual Olympic Champion – Athens 2004
Rick VAN DER VEN (NED), 22 years old
4th at the Olympic Games – London 2012
European individual and team Champion – Amsterdam 2012
Natalia ERDYNIEVA (RUS), 24 years old
Olympian – Beijing 2008
World Championships team bronze medallist – Ulsan 2009
Christine BJERENDAL (SWE), 26 years old
Olympian – London 2012
World field archery Champion – Visegrad 2010
Naomi FOLKARD (GBR), 29 years old
Olympian – Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012
Gaël PREVOST (FRA), 19 years old
Olympian - London 2012
World Cup Final individual bronze medallist – Tokyo 2012
Asian selection:
Yu ISHIZU (JPN), 26 years old
2nd at the Asian Grand Prix of Bangkok - 2013
Ren HAYAKAWA (JPN), 25 years old
Team Olympic bronze medallist – London 2012
KIM Bubmin (KOR), 22 years old
Team Olympic bronze medallist – London 2012
YUN Mi-Jin (KOR), 30 years old
Individual and team Olympic Champion – Sydney 2000
Team Olympic Champion – Athens 2004
Atul VERMA (IND)
Indian Junior Champion - 2013
Padya Wati SARDAR (IND), 20 years old
9th at the World Youth Championships – Ogden 2009
LIN Chia-En (TPE), 19 years old
World Cup team silver medallist and individual bronze medallist – Antalya 2012
KUO Cheng-Wei (TPE), 29 years old
Olympian - London 2012
World Cup team Champion – Santo Domingo 2008, Porec 2008 and Shanghai 2012
The Conquest Cup will also serve as a test event, as much as for the Turkish Archery Federation, as for World Archery, with the aim of developing a new type of challenge gathering together continents, countries, cultures and genders.
Stay tuned 28 and 29 May on our website and on our Facebook page for all the latest news and results from the Conquest Cup.
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