Leipzig “LIVE” – Individual Recurve Final Matches

Today was the last day of the 44th World Championships in Leipzig! The competition ended with the individual finals for all categories. 
After the Compound division in the morning, the Recurve Men and Women were the very last people on the field to shoot in the afternoon. 

The stands were full this afternoon with 3,000 spectators enjoying the competition. 
 

Recurve Women  

Semi-final: Erdyniyeva (RUS) – Valeeva (ITA)
Seeded no. 2, Valeeva opened her duel with Erdyniyeva with a 9-10-10 and 29 points. With two 7s and an 8, the Russian was already trailing by seven points after only one end! She managed to recover a little in the second end, shooting 9-10-10. The Italian scored a 8-9-10 series and led by five points at that point (56-51). In the third end, Erdyniyeva came back to trail by four points after she scored 8-9-10 and Valeeva 9-9-8 (82-78). The Russian fell apart in the last end shooting 7-10-6 and a total score of 101. Valeeva clinched victory with 109 points and a chance to shoot for the gold medal later on.

   

Semi-final: Park (KOR) – Nichols (USA) 
This semi-final in Recurve Women featured Olympic Champion, Park from Korea, facing the American Nichols. The Korean opened with a triple 9 to take a 3-point lead over Nichols (27-24). She increased her lead to five points shooting another triple 9 series while her American opponent shot 9-8-9 (54-49). Following with a 6, Nichols lost all hopes of coming back in this match. With 10-10-8, Park took a more than comfortable 10-point advantage with only three arrows to go. She clinched her victory with 10-9-10 to compete for the gold later in the afternoon. Final score: 111-97.

   

Bronze Medal: Nichols (USA) - Erdyniyeva (RUS)
Shooting for bronze is the most difficult… as you either get a medal or nothing! The two ladies seemed to be shaking a lot and they both started with 9s and 8s only. Nichols took the lead, though shooting one point better than her opponent (26-25). A triple 9 followed by Erdyniyeva giving her an intermediate total of 52. This was enough to take a 2-point advantage half-way, as Nichols scored 8-9-7 (50). The American recovered in the third series, tying the score at 78 after shooting 9-10-9 and her opponent 8-9-9. Nichols opened the last end with a 9 and an 8. Erdyniyeva took a 3-point advantage before the last arrow (98-95). The American closed her match with a 10 for a total of 105, and her opponent just won the bronze by a hair’s breadth with 106!

   

Gold Medal: Park (KOR) - Valeeva (ITA)
The gold match in the Recurve Women category was between the two top seeded archers: Park finished 1st in the qualifications, while Valeeva ranked 2nd. The two archers opened with a 10 and they both followed with an 8! Park’s third arrow (10) was better than that of Valeeva (9) by one point and she took the lead at the end of first end (28-27). Everyone thought that the Korean had already made all the difference when she took a 2-point advantage due to two 8s by Valeeva. However, the Olympic Champion scored an unusual 7 and was only one point ahead at the half-way mark (53-52). The end of the match was just crazy! In the third end, Valeeva shot a great 10-10-9 series. Park seemed to be losing track and scored 9-8-9 to trail for the first time in the match: 81-79 in favour of the Italian. Valeeva then took a 4-point advantage shooting a 10, while Park shot another 8. The latter then shot a 9 and Valeeva shot a 7… decreasing her lead to only two points before the last arrow! Park shot a perfect 10 to put some pressure on her contender, but Valeeva could held her composure and also shot a 10. With 108-106, she becomes the new Champion of the World!!!

   
Recurve Men  

Semi-final: Wills (GBR) – Im (KOR) 
Just amazing what Im achieved with his first three arrows: a perfect triple 10 to open his semi-final to Wills! With 9-10-7, the latter was already trailing (30-26). The Briton came round in the second end scoring 10-9-9, but his opponent stayed strong with 10-8-10. The intermediate score was 58-54. Im followed with a great 9-10-10, taking a comfortable 6-point advantage over Wills, who shot a triple 9 at that point (87-81). The Korean built on his lead in the last end to take victory by 115-107. He will shoot for gold while Wills will shoot for bronze.

   

Semi-final: Tsyrempilov (RUS) – Terry (GBR) 
Terry was the 1992 Olympic Games bronze medallist. In this semi-final, he faced the Russian Tsyrempilov, always well ranked in the World Cup stages. The Russian opened with 28 points and gave the lead to his opponent who shot 29 points. Terry kept his 1-point advantage after the second end, shooting 10-8-9, while Tsyrempilov scored a triple 9 (56-55). Tsyrempilov then took advantage of another 8 by Terry in the third end to take the lead on a score of 83-82. The last end was terrible for the Briton who scored a 7 with seond last arrow and left the door open for his opponent… Tsyrempilov finished with 9-10-9 and earned the right to shoot for gold! Final score: 111-108.

   

Bronze Medal: Terry (GBR) - Wills (GBR)
Team-mates Terry and Wills faced each other for bronze in Recurve Men in this 100% British match. Terry started stronger in the first end, taking the lead with 9-10-10 over Wills with 10-8-10. Nothing changed in the second end with both archers shooting two 9s and a 10 (57-56). Both archers showed their levels were evenly balanced as they both shot 27 points in the third end. The score was still a 1-point lead for Terry (84-83). Great shooting for Wills with his last three arrows with 9-10-10 for a total of 112! His fellow countryman started the last end with a double 10, and as spectators thought Terry would clinch the match with his last arrow, he scored an 8 and it was a tie… In the shoot-off Terry shot a 9 and Wills got a perfect 10 to win the bronze!

   

Gold Medal: Tsyrempilov (RUS) - Im (KOR) 
The Korean Im started as favourite in this Recurve Men gold medal match as he was no. 2 seed after the qualifications. Tsyrempilov was ranked 17th. Im opened the match with 8-7-9 (24), a rather low score for a Korean. Tsyrempilov on the other hand started very strong with a 29-point end (10-9-10). The Russian even increased his lead to five points after the fifth arrow (47-42), but shooting a 7 with his sixth arrow allowed his opponent to come back a little (54-51). The third end was Im’s, shooting a perfect triple 10 to tie the match (81-81) with only three arrows left – Tsyrempilov shot a triple 9 at that point. The Korean continued with another 10, taking the lead by one point with two arrows to go (91-90). The archers then both shot 9 for a score of 100-99. As Im was shooting first, he could clinch the gold medal if he shot a 10… He did it and became the new World Champion after an impossible return in this incredible match! The final score was 110-108, as Tsyrempilov finished with three 9s to take the silver medal.