No chance at retaining team gold for Korean men; young Dutch shine

Men
As the wind continued to blow, the reigning world champion Koreans, top team in qualifications, barely survived their first-round match against Great Britain - who had managed to capture the 16th and final spot into the elimination rounds. A Korean miss in the first end proved hard to compensate for, until the last end: Alan WILLS (GBR) shot a 4 with his last arrow to hand Korea a two-point victory, 170-168.

The trio of IM Dong Hyun, OH Jin Hyek and LEE Seungyun would not rely on their quarterfinal opponents giving them a similar gift - and cruised through to the semis with a 192-172 win.

Their semi-finals opponent, the n°5-seeded Netherlands, reached the match with victories over Malaysia and Canada. The orange-clad archers proceeded to build a three-point lead on Korea over the first two ends, which was reduced to two after the third end. But the Dutch kept their advantage, matching Korea's 50-point total in the final end. A major upset, and the first shot at a world gold medal for European champions Rick VAN DER VEN, Sjef VAN DEN BERG and Rick VAN DEN OEVER.

“It’s the first time we’ve beaten Korea, so that’s a plus,” said VAN DEN OEVER. “It’s great to see the 1, 2, and 3 ranked archers – and just beat them,” added VAN DEN BERG. And VAN DER VEN said that the team "made strong shots. You don’t have time to let off, you just shoot your arrows. So you get a bit more confidence to shoot them."

"We’ll continue to shoot good shots like we always do. And we’ve beaten the United States before, so why not now,” concluded VAN DEN OEVER, the middle-aged member of the team at 21. VAN DER VEN - who came 4th at last year's Olympics - is 22 and VAN DEN BERG is just 18.

“In 2004 we almost beat Korea,” recalled team head coach Ron VAN DER HOFF. “But this is the one really. It’s the one to get into the World Championships final – there’s no better way to beat Korea.” Some quick research reveals that the last team on a world podium was a silver medal back in 2007, with a team that included... none other than... Ron VAN DER HOFF!

This 2013 Netherlands team will face Olympic silver-medallists Brady ELLISON and Jake KAMINSKI - and third team member Jo FANCHIN - in the final. The United States squad beat Australia and Ukraine in the first two rounds, before coming up against another of the youngest teams in the tournament: n°3 seed France.

Thomas FAUCHERON, Gaël PREVOST and Jean-Charles VALLADONT had outscored Spain and Italy – with Olympic champions Michele FRANGILLI and Mauro NESPOLI, and newcomer to the team Amedeo TONELLI. In the semi-finals, the two points they lost to the United States in the first end cost them a chance at gold: the United States won 191-189.

The Netherlands and the United States have met four times since 2011 - and the series carries an even split. The American team won the first two matches, and the Netherlands the last two, in 2012 and 2013, by just two points.

France, after losing the gold medal match twice to Korea at the 2009 and 2011 World Archery Championships, will meet the Korean men for bronze. Whatever the result, it is a setback for Korea, since they won gold at all three World Cup stages they entered this year. There will be no medal for either India or Mexico - n°2 and n°4 from qualifications - as they both lost in the first round today.

Women
“We will win the gold,” announced KI Bo Bae earlier this week - and the Korean women are still on track. Olympic gold medallists KI and YUN Ok Hee, and newcomer CHANG Hye Jin, dispatched Poland in the first round - before taking Olympic silver medallists China to a shoot-off. Korea's 26 beat China's 22, and carried them into a semi-final against Mexico.

After famously missing out on a team medal at the London Olympics, but returning days later to claim two individual gongs, the Mexican women had beaten Georgia and upset double-World Cup champion India. Marian AVITA, Aída ROMAN and Alejandra VALENCIA kept it close, until a miss in the final end handed Korea a 181-177 win, crushing Mexican dreams for a first world crown.

“We shot really strongly and really well”, said Aída ROMAN. “We wanted to go for gold. It was a close match, but we are still happy with the opportunity to shoot for bronze.”

Belarus surprised on the other side of the brackets. Victories over third-seeded Germany and Great Britain landed Hanna MARUSAVA, Ekaterina TIMOFEYEVA and Alena TOLKACH a place in the semi-finals. They faced Denmark, winner over second-seeded Chinese Taipei in the previous round. Belarus led from the beginning to the end, for a four-point win. “We thought about how to shoot. Only shooting – and not about the wind. To do this well and to be in the final is a surprise for us, as we qualified 14th,” said Ekaterina TIMOFEYEVA.

The final between Korea and Belarus will choose Italy's successor as women’s world champion. For Korea, it is a journey of recovery, for the title that eluded them two years ago.

“We are hopeful”, asserted Belorussian team member TIMOFEYEVA, “as our team came 4th in the 2009 World Championships.” It should not surprise anyone that the semi-final opponent that beat Belarus then, in Leipzig, was Korea - and that the Korean's hold all four victories in the series - but the two teams have not met since.

Sunday’s bronze medal match will feature Mexico against the Danish team made of Carina CHRISTIANSEN, Maja JAGER and Anne Marie LAURSEN, who came third at the Wroclaw World Cup. It is the first attempt at a World Championships medal in this category for both teams. Their only previous encounter, in 2011, speaks in favour of Mexico - but only by one point.

World Archery Communication