Two golds, two silvers for Korea in recurve!

The individual finals were shot today at the World Archery Championships in Ulsan. In the recurve division, LEE Chang-Hwan (KOR) and JOO Hyun-Jung (KOR) emerged as the big winners. With four medals out of a possible six, Korea showed their domination over the recurve division. For the first time in the world archery championships history, 12 nations from the five continents shared the medals.  
LEE Chang-Hwan (KOR)   Recurve Men   Semifinal: OH Jin-Hyek (KOR) vs IM Dong-Hyun (KOR) This 100% Korean semifinal promised to be an interesting match between IM, the defending world champion from Leipzig and World Cup winner from Lausanne 2008, and OH, the new FITA Round world record holder and No. 1 seed, who has little international experience. He has only competed in two World Cup stages before this, reaching the final in Shanghai. He is now competing in a World Championships for the first time. IM was seeded No. 4 in this event.
OH had the best start in this match, shooting a 10-9-x10, while IM scored 9-x10-8. OH led 29-27. IM took his revenge in the second end, scoring 10-9-9 to take the lead over OH, who managed only 9-8-8. The leader from qualifications trailed 54-55.
OH recovered 1 point in the third end to tie at 83-83.
In the last end the archers tied again after the first arrow (10). IM then recovered the lead thanks to a bad 8 from OH. IM won by 2 points, 112-110.
Semifinal: Viktor RUBAN (UKR) vs LEE Chang-Hwan (KOR) This semifinal featured the 2008 Olympic champion RUBAN and the No. 2 seed LEE. LEE is currently team Olympic and world Champion. He has a large international experience but has never won any individual medal at this level. Both archers are in good shape at the moment. RUBAN is the recent winner of the Universiade in Belgrade, while LEE placed 6th in Shanghai.
LEE shot first and managed a perfect 30 in front of the home crowd. Meanwhile RUBAN had problems from the start, shooting only 8-6-9. LEE already led by 7 points, 30-23 after the first end. Both archers scored a 10 and two 9s in the next end and so LEE was still in the lead with the same 7-point margin, 58-51. RUBAN came back in the third end with three perfect 10s. LEE shot 9-10-8 to lead 85-81. The Ukrainian needed to recover 4 points to tie in the last end but LEE didn’t let him: he scored 9-9-9 to win 112-109.
   OH Jin-Hyek (KOR)Bronze Medal: OH Jin-Hyek (KOR) vs Viktor RUBAN (UKR) Very strong wind was coming through as the athletes started this game. OH shot x10-9-10 to take the lead over RUBAN, 29-28.
OH was affected by the wind in the second end, scoring 10-7-x10, while RUBAN managed to come back with 9-10-10. The Ukrainian led 57-56.
Both archers had the same scores in the third end: 9-x10-9 for OH and 9-10-9 for RUBAN who held his 1-point lead, 85-84.
OH shot 9-8-9 in his last three arrows. RUBAN started with 10, 8, and an 8 to win the bronze by just one point, 111-110!
The Crispin’s corner: I think OH had some bad luck with the wind and the wind was definitely stronger on his shots than RUBAN’s shots.Viktor RUBAN made a very good come-back after the first end and maintained his lead for the rest of the match, showing his experience.
Gold Medal: IM Dong-Hyun (KOR) vs LEE Chang-Hwan The two archers already met in the quarterfinals of the World Cup stage in Shanghai 2009, where IM defeated LEE 109-108.
LEE scored 9-10-10 to take a 2-point lead over IM, who shot 8-9-10. LEE led 29-27.
In the second end, IM shot 9-x10-9 to recover 1 point and trail 55-56.
IM shot 9-9-9 in the third end, while LEE did slightly better with 10-9-9. In so doing, LEE set his lead back to 2 points with three arrows to go.
IM shot a weak 8 to start the last end. LEE shot a 9 to build a 3-point advantage before the last two arrows. IM shot two 9s and this must have released the pressure on LEE, who scored two 10s to clinch the gold over his teammate, 113-108!
The Crispin’s corner : I think IM was affected more by the wind than LEE was, especially with IM’s last six arrows which were all to the left. LEE’s final 10 solidified his victory and Korea’s dominance.
Recurve women   Semifinal: KWAK Ye Ji (KOR) vs Karina LIPIARSKA (POL) KWAK was an alternate at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. This year she placed 1st in Antalya and 3rd in Shanghai. After winning gold with her team yesterday, she will want to add another gold medal to her fast-growing collection! The No. 20 seed Karina LIPIARSKA is 22 and only competed in 3 World Cup events so far.
KWAK had the best start in this semifinal, scoring 8-10-9 while LIPIARSKA shot 9-7-8. The Korean led 27-24.
In the second end, LIPIARSKA reduced her disadvantage with a good 10-9-10 for 53. KWAK shot the same scores she did in the previous end, though not in the same order (9-10-8). She led by 1 point, 54-53.
The wind started to blow as the archers prepared for their third end. LIPIARSKA didn’t manage to come back with three 8s, while KWAK shot 9-9-10 – a 5-point advantage for the Korean!
LIPIARSKA gave a good performance in the last end with x10-9-9, but it was too late. KWAK shot 9-9-9 to win, 109-105. The Korean qualified for the gold medal final!
Semifinal: JOO Hyun-Jung (KOR) vs Natalia SANCHEZ (COL) Both archers competed in the Olympic Games 2008, where JOO won a gold medal with the Korean team. JOO was 3rd in Antalya and 5th in Shanghai earlier this year.
In this semifinal both archers started off to the left which indicated a wind shift. Natalia SANCHEZ was a little bit better, scoring 8-10-10, while JOO shot 8-10-9. SANCHEZ led 28-27. The Korean archer was steadier in the second end, scoring x10-9-10. SANCHEZ shot 9-9-9, allowing JOO to take the lead 56-55. Natalia probably felt the pressure and scored only 8-6-8, while JOO’s arrows were all in the gold (9-9-10). JOO led by 7 points, 84-77.
The scores of the last end were 8-8-9 for SANCHEZ and 9-9-10 for JOO. The Korean won 112-102 and will shoot against KWAK in the final. This means Korea has already won the gold medal in this division!
   Natalia SANCHEZ (COL)
Bronze Medal: Karina LIPIARSKA (POL) vs Natalia SANCHEZ (COL) The two archers tied after the first three arrows, 26-26.
A lot of wind was coming through the venue, causing LIPIARSKA to score only 9-8-6 in the second end. SANCHEZ was grouping better at 8-9-9. The Colombian led 52-49.
The wind got stronger and stronger in the second half of the match. LIPIARSKA still managed a nice score in the third end, 10-9-9. SANCHEZ lost some of her advantage with 9-8-9 but was still in the lead, 78-77.
LIPIARSKA seemed to be tense in the last end, scoring only 7-9-6. SANCHEZ was more confident and finished with 8-9-10. The final score was 105-99 for SANCHEZ, who won the bronze medal!
The Crispin’s corner: SANCHEZ showed her experience by keeping consistent scoring, whereas LIPIARSKA’s scores fluctuated. Consistency is the key in archery and SANCHEZ showed that today.
Gold Medal: KWAK Ye Ji (KOR) vs JOO Hyun-Jung (KOR) KWAK and JOO already met in 2009 in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai World Cup event. The winner was KWAK (113-110).
In the first 100% Korean final of the day, JOO had the best start over KWAK. She shot 9-10-x10, while her teammate shot 9-9-10. JOO led 29-28.
KWAK was stronger in the following end with shots at 9-10-x10. JOO was 2 points behind at 8-10-9. She lost her lead to trail by 1 point, 56-57.
The two athletes were indeed very close and the third end finished in a tie at 84-84.
Both Koreans started the last end with a 9. KWAK then shot a 9 while JOO managed a 10 to recover the lead before the final arrow. It was a 10 for KWAK, but JOO clinched the victory with a 10 of her own! She is the new world champion!
The Crispin’s corner : This was a very tight match the whole way through with both Koreans not showing any nerves and shooting to their full potential. Both of them only had one 8, but JOO just had one more 10 than KWAK. Congratulations to JOO !
Vanahé ANTILLE / Crispin DUENAS FITA Communication