Two world records during team eliminations

Team USA broke the compound cadet women’s world record and Russia the one in recurve cadet women. In recurve, Korea reached four gold finals. In the compound division, Mexico and the USA confirm their leading position by qualifying three teams each for a gold medal match.   There are three archers per team. Each squad shoots 4x6 arrows. Juniors have targets at 70 metres and cadets at 60 metres.   Recurve Junior Men Three upsets took place in the 1/8 elimination round. The No. 12 USA took out the No. 5 Italy! The Italians started best, but the USA came back to lead 155-153 and clinched the match 211-206. No. 13 seed Poland dominated No. 4 China, 53-47, 160-149, 214-201. Finally No. 11 Chinese Taipei beat No. 6 Australia in a close match, 212-211!   In the quarterfinal, Mexico put up a good fight against Korea. The Mexicans score a good 220 points (109 at the half), but the Koreans prevailed at the end with 226. The closest match was Poland-USA. The Polish built a 2-point lead at the half, 109-107. It was tough but they preserved it, 163-162, 216-214. Ukraine beat Chinese Taipei 211-204, while Great Britain took on India, 221-215.   In the semifinal, Ukraine took the lead over Great Britain in the first end 55-52. However a poor second end (46 points) put the Ukrainians in a hole. The British did not miss the opportunity to reach a gold medal match and took the match 108-101, 158-155, 216-204. Korea beat Poland in the second semifinal.   Recurve Junior Women There were two upsets in the 1/8 elimination round. No. 11 Kazakhstan beat No. 6 Chinese Taipei, 145-143 and then 199-191. On a smaller scale, No. 9 Japan eliminated No. 8 Russia, 154-144, 205-192.   Kazakhstan kept going strongly at the beginning of the quarterfinal. They led Ukraine 51-49. They were still neck-to-neck at the half (101-102), but then Ukraine made the difference in the third end. The Ukrainians took the lead at 156-146 and clinched the match 211-199. Netherlands and Poland were tied at 49-49 after the first end, but the Polish took the lead later on and won 206-198. Korea and China also moved on to the next round.  Ukraine and China (photo) were tied at 51-51 after the first end. However, China then took control: 106-104, 162-152 and 214-208. In the other semifinal Korea beat Poland again (as in the men’s competition), 222-191. The final will be a repeat of the last Olympic Games: Korea – China!   Compound Junior Men In the 1/8 elimination round, Australia beat the Russian Federation and Belgium claimed victory over India. The other countries had a bye into the next round.   As expected, the USA qualified for the semifinals by defeating Australia 114-108, 171-164, 228-219. Mexico easily prevailed over Belgium 232-217 and Denmark qualified over Sweden. Canada and Italy competed in a close match that ended in a tie, 112-112, 165-169, 223-223. The Canadians were better in the shoot-off to win 28-27.   In the semifinals, the USA built a 7-point advantage over Denmark in the first end. The Americans claimed an easy victory, 116-109, 173-166, 232-223. Mexico beat Canada 114-111, 173-166, 230-223. Mexico and the USA will fight for gold in the final.   Compound Junior Women In this category, the USA, Mexico and the Russian Federation advanced automatically to the semifinals, while India and Italy had to fight for a place in the next round. The Italian girls trailed 159-162 after two ends but came back strongly to win 217-212!   As expected the USA, the No. 1 team from qualifications, gained an easy win over Italy, 115-102, 170-156, 224-209. It was a tighter match between Mexico and Russia. The Mexicans had the best start, leading 56-53, 109-107, but the Russians came back strongly in the third end to take the lead (163-161). Russia won 219-214.   Recurve Cadet Men Turkey created the surprise of the first round. They beat Spain 213-197. Mexico also beat No. 5 Slovenia 214-205.   In quarterfinal Korea tied the world record with 229 points to defeat the USA! Russia and Italy had an intense match. The Russians led 109-107 and then 162-161. However the Italians pulled a 1-point comeback victory in the last end, 216-215! India and Ukraine also won.   Korean and India were tied after the first end of the semifinal, 53-53. That did not last long. The powerhouse Korean turned it on and won 110-103, 166-155 and 224-209. Italy led Ukraine 55-53. However the Ukrainians turned it around: 111-107, 166-162 and 223-215.  Recurve Cadet Women The only little surprise in the first round was No. 9 Mexico beating No. 8 Japan, 157-150, 209-203.   The four favourites prevailed in the quarterfinals: Korea, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine.   Russia (photo) shot really well in their semifinal. They held a commanding lead at the half 114-101. They kept going and broke the world record with 225 points! Korea performed almost as well! The Koreans shot 224 points to beat Turkey.   Compound Cadet Men In the 1/8 elimination round, South Africa defeated Great Britain and Mexico qualified over Venezuela, while all the other teams had a bye.   Two of the favourite teams did not survive the quarterfinals! In a very exciting match, No. 2 seed Denmark lost to No. 7 Mexico, 111-115, 166-165, 224-233. The Russians, seeded No. 3 after qualifications, had a bad start and were eliminated in their first round by India, 107-112, 165-166, 221-223. In the other matches, Australia defeated Canada 228-223, and the USA beat South Africa 230-227.    Surprisingly, the United States, the best team from qualifications, was eliminated by No. 9 Australia! The USA suffered after a weak performance in the first end. They couldn’t recover from their bad start and lost the match 53-58, 110-114, 165-173, 220-228. India trailed Mexico throughout the other semifinal, 57-58, 113-114, 167-171, and lost by 1 point, 226-227. Mexico and Australia advanced to the gold-medal match.   Compound Cadet Women The top-3 teams from qualifications (the USA, Russia and Mexico) had a bye, while India claimed victory 217-215 over Australia to advance to the next round.   However, India did not survive their next match against the USA (photo). As expected the host team won, 57-58, 112-108, 172-162, 230-219. Even better, the Americans broke the world record! In the other semifinal, Mexico trailed Russia through most of the match, 55-57, 110-111, 166-167, but managed a strong come-back in the end! Mexico won 225-221 and will battle for the gold against the USA.   The teams will shoot their finals on Saturday. On Friday, the boys and girls will have a special competition to qualify for the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games!   Vanahé ANTILLE / Didier Miéville FITA Communication