ARTAKHINOVA, Queen of the World Archery Para Championships!

 Seventeen days in Turin, one Congress, two world championships and 13 titles awarded to the best para archers of the world today! Stepanida ARTAKHINOVA (RUS) won two gold medals and one silver !   Here are the final matches !   Recurve Men Team Open   Gold – Russia (seeded No. 1) v Korea (seeded No. 2) For team matches, the score are cumulative – out of 24 arrows (four ends of six arrows) in teams.   Korea took a 1-point lead after the first end 56-55, however they shot a 5 in the second end, while Russia scored 10-9-10-9-9-9 to take a comfortable advantage at 111-105.   OYUN/SHESTAKOV/TUCHINOV, the last two had played for the individual bronze in the morning continued fairly strong with 10-6-9-10-9-8. Enough to keep JUNG/LEE/LEE, who scored 7-9-9-10-9-6 at a good distance 163-165.   Korea shot 8-8-9-10-8-8 for 206 points. Russia cruised to victory with 9-10-8-9-9-9. Gold medal, 217-206!   Recurve Women Team Open   Gold – Korea (1) v China (2) GAO Fangxia appeared also in her third final today and she was looking for another title, after winning gold (in individuals) and silver (in mixed team).   The match was very tight as the score was tied score after 12 arrows at 98-98 and then at 124-124 after 15 arrows. Korea finished the third end with 10-9-7, while China scored 7-10-10 to take a 1-point lead, 151-150!   Then Korea scored 8-8-9, China had 8-9-9 to gain a 2-point lead, 175-177!   KO/KIM/ LEE finished with 6-9-10 opening the door for China. XIAO/GAO/YAN top right photo scored 10-8-7. Gold medal for China 202-200! Two gold and silver for GAO!  Compound Men Team Open   Gold – Korea (1) v Great Britain (7) John Stephen STUBBS for Great Britain appeared in his third final of the day, while GO Sung Kil shot for bronze this morning but lost it.   The final was a tight match in which GBR had a little edge. The British led 57-54, then 169-166.   Korea started the last end with 9-10-10 and caught up one point of the British lead (9-9-10 fro GBR), 195-197.   However the Koreans finished with 8-8-10 for 221 points. No enough to put pressure on HENNEHANE/STUBBS/THOMAS photo who finished with X10-9-8 for 224 points. Finally STUBBS earned a gold medal, after winning two silver today!   Compound Women Team Open   Gold – Russia (1) v Great Britain (2)  Through their respective teams, there was another dual between Danielle BROWN and Stepanida ARTAKHINOVA. However the Russian team of ARTAKHINOVA/LYZHNIKOVA/POLEGAEVA seemed simply more constant than the Britons.   They started with ends of 56 and 55, despite the rain, while Great Britain scored 47 and 46. Russia led 111-93 at the half.   Later on, the Russian led 161-136 and finally won 212-198!   Two gold and one silver for ARTAKHINOVA, while BROWN earned one gold and two silver!   Recurve Mixed Team Open   Gold – P. R. China (1) v I.R. Iran (2) For team matches, the score are cumulative – out of 16 arrows in mixed teams (four ends of four arrows).   One more time, the rain started to fall down quite hard for this match. This week the weather alternated between plain sun and some heavy storm!   These two teams played a tight match but Iran took advantage of a low second from China to lead after 12 arrows. China scored 36, 32, 35 for 103 and Iran had 34, 35, 36 for 105.   China continued wit 9-8*, while Iran scored 10-8. Then China finished only with 6 and 8. Iran scored another 8 and 9. Final score 140-134. Second medal of the day for Ebrahim RANJBARKIVAJ, while his teammate Zahra NEMATI had gold and silver!  Compound Mixed Team Open   Gold – Great Britain (1) v Russia (3) John Stephen STUBBS and Danielle BROWN were appearing in their second final as the big favourites over Russia. They took a good lead in the first end 39-36. However the Russian pair came back with 10-10-10-10 to close the gap at 76-77 halfway through the match!   The British had a 10-10-10-10 on their own in the third end to regain a consequent lead 117-114.   However the individual silver medal Stepanida ARTAKHINOVA and her teammate Mikhail DIKTOVANNYY photo, shooting with only one arm, were not discouraged. They shot 10-10-10-10 in the last end and put pressure back on the British team. STUBBS/BROWN only managed 9-9-9-9. A surprising come-back victory for Russia!   Recurve Men Standing   Gold – DONG Zhi (CHN/1) v KIM Suk Ho (KOR/7) The lower seed KIM had a little edge on DONG in the first two sets (9-9-8 to 7-8-10 and 9-7-9 to 8-6-9). He led 4-0! The Chinese came back strong in the third with 9-10-9. He trailed 2-4. He continued with another 28 (10-8-10), one point better than KIM in the fourth set, to tie at 4-4.   The Korean started the last set with a 5! DONG made no mistake to take advantage of it with 9-9-9. He came back from 0-4 to 6-4 and won the gold medal!   Bronze– Oleg SHESTAKOV (RUS/4) v Timur TUCHNINOV (RUS/4) The No. 3 and No. 4 seeds and team-mates SHESTAKOV and TUCHNINOV met for bronze. The latter was slightly better in the firs two sets, winning them 27-26 and 26-25. He did again in the third set! SHESTAKOV finished strong with 8-9-10 (27), but TUCHINOV had 10-9-9 (28) to clinch the bronze medal!   Recurve Women Standing   Gold – GAO Fangxia (CHN/1) v Irina BATOROVA (RUS/14) BATOROVA, seeded No. 14, made her way to the final to face the No. 1 seed GAO. The Russian, who has only been shooting for six month (!), was a bit impressed starting the match with 6-7-6, while the Chinese achieved 9-8-8 to take the first set. Then they both scored 8-10-9. GAO still led, 3-1.   BATOROVA dropped another 6 in the third set. GAO scored 8-9-7 to increase the gap at 5-1. The Russian finished with 6-10-9. GAO was solid with 10-8-10 to win gold!   Bronze– YAN Huilian (CHN/12) v Magali COMTE (SUI/23) Seeded No. 12 and 23, these two athletes surprisingly reached the bronze medal final! COMTE shot very well in this match with 10-9-9, 9-10-9, and 9-7-9 to clinch the bronze in straigt sets!   Recurve Men W1/W2   Gold – Ebrahim RANJBARKIVAJ (IRI/1) v LEE Myeong-Gu (KOR/6) Seeded No. 1 in this tournament, RANJBARKIVAJ was just too good for his Korean opponent today. RANJBARKIVAJ won in straigt sets 6-0 (26-24, 29-25, 27-25). Gold medal for Iran!   Bronze– Sidik MUHAMMAD SALAM (MAS/7) v Roham SHAHABIPOUR (IRI/8) MUHAMMAD SALAM took a strong start in this match and led 4-0. SHAHABIPOUR shot first the third set with a 9*-8-10, while MUHAMMAD SALAM scored 9-9-9. The 9* turned to be a 10 and the Iranian came back 2-4. He actually tied the match shooting another set of 28 points in the fourth to this opponent 27. Finally SHAHABIPOUR scored two 10s in the fifth set but also a 6. That arrow cost him the medal. MUHAMMAD SALAM scored 8-9-10 (27-26 in the set) to clinch bronze!   Recurve Women W1/W2   Gold – Zahra NEMATI (IRI/1) v XIAO Yanhong (CHN/3) XIAO started the match with a 6, but she followed up with two 9s to take the first set 24-23. The No. 1 seed NEMATI turned it up a notch in the second set, shooting 8-10-9 to tie the match 2-2. However the Iranian dropped a 6 in third set and XIAO took the lead 4-2 (27-25). The Chinese won the fourth set 26-23, and the gold medal, 6-2!   Bronze – Hatice BAYAR (TUR/5) v Ozlem Hacer KALAY (TUR/7) Turkish dual in this match! KALAY took the first set 26-21. BAYAR earned the second one 25-24.   The higher seed, BAYAR, was more consistent in this match continuing with 9-8-8 and 9-8-9, while her team-mate dropped a couple of 6s (8-10-6 and 6-9-9) in the last two sets. BAYAR won the bronze medal!   Paralympic play-offs – LI Jinzhi (CHN) v. MIJNO Elisabetta (ITA) There was a play-off tournament with eight athletes for one Paralympic quota left. LI Jinzhi (CHN) and MIJNO Elisabetta (ITA) reached the final of this tournament. Their match was played on the final field as well; same process – best of five sets.   MIJNO finished the first set with 10! She took a 2-0 lead and the fans cheered loud! However LI came back in the second set with 10-9-9. Match tied at 2-2. MINJO droppred a 5 in the third set, thus letting her opponent take it with 10-8-10. LI lead 4-2. The Italian started the fourfth set wit ha 6, but LI did the same (her arrow was high in the target)! Then MINJO found a 10, while LI scored another 6, this time low in the target). MINJO clinched the fourth set, the match was tied at 4-4.   The final set would decide of the last Paralympic quota available at the World Archery Para Championshsips Turin 2011! LI made her easy for her opponent with 8-3-10, but MINJO did no mistake scoring a superb 9-10-9. Victory and paralympic quota for Italy!  Compound Men   Gold – Philippe HORNER (SUI/4) v John Stephen STUBBS (GBR/3) HORNER photo has competed last week in the able body world championships in Turin! In this gold final, both athletes started with 9-10-10 to split the first set. The arrows were different in the second set, 9-9-9 to 9-10-8, but the outcome was the same: split set, 2-2.   Then both archers shot 10-10-10 in the third set, 3-3!   Fourth set: 10-10-10 and 10-10-10, 4-4! What a match!   HORNER started the fifth set with another 10, STUBBS had a 9! The Swiss had another 10, the British an X10! HORNER finished with 9, leaving STUBBS with the opportunity to tie the match another time if he would have shot a 10. He only scored 9. An archery gold medal for Switzerland, congratulations HORNER!   Bronze – Abdullah SENER (TUR/13) v GO Sung Kil (KOR/18) Seeded 13 and 18 after the qualifications, these two athletes made a bit of a surprising way until this bronze medal final. SENER had the best start with 10-8-9 over the 9-7-9 for GO. However the Korean came back strong with 10-9-10 and 9-9-10 to take the lead 4-2 in the match. SENER then had a 9-10-9 of his own to tie it at 4-4.   The bronze medal and the Paralympic had to be played in the final set!   Both athletes started the fifth set with a 9! Then GO scored a 10 and SENER scored a 10! The Korean finished with a 9, leaving SENER with the opportunity to win the match with his last arrow. However the Turkish archer shot another 9, shoot-off!   GO started the tie-break with a 9. SENER took his time to aim, calmly, and released a 10! Bronze medal and a Paralympic quota!   Compound Men W1   Gold – Osmo KINNUNEN (FIN/4) v David DRAHONINSKY (CZE/2) Matches were played using the set system: maximum of five sets of three arrows. Two set points to win per set (one for earch archer in case to tie). The first archers to 6 set points wins the match. In case of a tie at 5 set points, each one arrow shoot-off closest to centre decides the winner!   DRAHONINSKY won the first set over KINNUNEN 28-27, but the Finnish athlete came back in the second set 29-26. The match was tied at 2-2, then at 3-3 (third set being tied at 23-23). KINNUNEN took the lead in the fourth set 26-25, 5-3. Both archers finished the match in great fashion: 8-9-10 for DRAHONINSKY, 9-10-9 and gold medal to KINNUNEN, 7-3!   Bronze – Jean Pierre ANTONIOS (FIN/1) v John CAVANAGH (GBR/6) Athletes were not only fighiting for the bronze medal this morning in the various compound categories but also for a Paralympic slots! Matches were played using the set system: maximum of five sets of three arrows.   CAVANAGH took the first set (26-24), but the No. 1 seed ANTONIOS won the next three (28-26. 29-27, 26-25) to clinch the bronze medal and the Paralympic quota!  Compound Women Open   Gold – Danielle BROWN (GBR/1) v Stepanida ARTAKHINOVA (RUS/2) BROWN photo was appearing in her first final of the day, with two more to go! She is team Commonwealth champion and has made some others notable results in the Archery World Cup, meaning with the able body archers!   The Russian ARTAKHINOVA did fancy her chance in any case and started the first set with 9-9-9. BROWN immediately showed she wanted to be in command of this match scoring 10-10-9! Then both archers really turned the heat on a chilly Sunday morning with 10-10-10!!! BROWN still led 3-1.   ARTAKHINOVA started the third set with 9, while BROWN kept it in the 10 ring one more time. The Russian finished the set with 10-10, but BROWN scored two more 10s! That was six 10s in a row and a 5-1 lead!   The British athlete did quite keep it up this way in the fourth set, scoring 10-8-7 (25). ARTAKHINOVA scored 9-8-9 (26) to keep the match alive at 3-5.   In the final set, ARTAKHINOVA started with a 9, equalled by BROWN. The Russian then scored a 7, while the British found the 10-ring again. ARTAKHINOVA scored another 9 but BROWN had a last 10 to win the gold medal, 7-3!   Bronze – CHEN Min Yi (CHN/5) v Zandra REPPE (SWE/2) Both athletes tied the first set at 27-27. CHEN raised her level a notch in the second set shooting 9-10-9 for 28 points and took the lead 3-1. In the third set it was REPPE who scored 9-10-9 to tie it at 3-3. Then both archers shot 9-10-9, score tie at 4-4 going into the final set!   CHEN scored 9-10-8 and REPPE had 9-8*-10! What a drama! The judge had to check the second arrow of the Swedish archer and in fact, it just touched the 9-ring to give her the bronze medal and the Paralympic quota   This is the end of the World Archery Para Championships and two weeks of intense competitions! They were preseeded by an historical Congress that changed the name of FITA into World Archery !   Thanks to the Organising Committee, thanks to all the partners and a special thanks to all the volunteers!   Didier MIEVILLE World Archery Communication