Korea and the United States dominate junior qualifications

Ben CLELAND (USA) - Compound Junior Men   The qualifications for all the junior divisions took place on Monday at the 2009 World Archery Youth Championships in Ogden. The juniors came to the field in the morning to shoot the two long distances, followed in the afternoon by the two short distances, with all archers shooting 36 arrows from each distance. Korea completely dominated the recurve qualifications, taking the first three spots both in the men’s and women’s categories. In the compound men and women’s categories, the United States earned the top spot as a team and in the individual ranking, with Ben CLELAND and Samantha PRUITTE finishing 1st. The women even broke the team world record!   Recurve Junior Men The Korean men swept the first three spots of the qualifications. JANG Chaehwan took the lead with 1344 points, followed by his compatriots SUNG Wookyeong and KIM Woojin, who scored 1339 and 1335 points respectively to take 2nd and 3rd places. Defending world junior champion Luca MELOTTO (ITA) finished 19th. 

In the team competition, Korea was unbeatable, taking first place with 4018 points… more than 200 points ahead of the other nations! India held the 2nd place they reached after the short distances and the Ukraine took 3rd place. The Australians, who were 3rd after the morning session, fell to 6th. Disappointing performances came from the USA (12th), Poland (13th), Germany (18th) and especially Russia, only finishing 24th! 
  Recurve Junior Women Once again a total sweep for Korea! HAN Gyeonghee (KOR) was brilliant in both the morning and afternoon sessions. She ranked 1st after the long distances and was able increase her lead to 15 points, finishing the qualifications with 1358. Of the two other archers from Korea, LEE Yujin was 2nd with 1343 points and YU Jangmi 3rd, scoring 1339. Yuliya ZAKHARCHENKO (UKR) finished 4th, followed by two Chinese girls, ZHU Jiani and LU Siyi. These results confirm the Asian and Eastern European countries domination in the recurve division. 

Korea achieved the highest score of all nations with 4040 points, ahead of China and the Ukraine. A surprising result came from the Netherlands who achieved a great result as a team, placing 5th. Disappointing performances came for Italy (12th), India (14th), Germany (16th) and the United States (17th). 
  Compound Junior Men In this category Ben CLELAND (USA), who already had the best score in the long distances, was first in the short distances as well. Francisco Javier VALVERDE (ESP) placed 2nd, while Puerto Rico’s Jean PIZARRO took 3rd place. Angel RAMIREZ and Luis Martin ALFARO from Mexico—respectively 2nd and 3rd after the morning session—finished in 6th and 5th places. Overall a great performance for the South American countries who placed four athletes in the first six individuals! 

Mexico confirmed its progression by taking 2nd place in the team ranking behind the United States (3rd place went to Italy). 
  Compound Junior Women Samantha PRUITTE (USA) continued her qualifications with an impressive display, shooting a total of 1387 points. Her compatriot Kendal NICELY was steady in 2nd place, scoring 1370. Inge VAN CASPEL (NED) gave a great performance to finish 3rd, an exceptional result for the Netherlands. Jorina COETZEE from South Africa, who had been 3rd halfway through qualifications, fell to 6th. 

As expected, the team from the United States led the team competition ahead of Russia and Mexico. 

The competition continues on Tuesday morning with the qualifications for Recurve Cadet Men and Recurve Cadet Women followed by Compound Cadet Men and Compound Cadet Women. 
  Vanahé ANTILLE FITA Communication