Indoor World Championships: USA dominated Compound, Italy and France in Recurve!

  The teams shoot 4 times 6 arrows and have three members alternating.   Recurve Men Team The Italian favorites had much trouble but a great satisfaction defeating Japan in the semi-final. The score was tied at 58, then the Italian had a small lead: 118-116, 177-176 to conclude on 236-234 and a new world record ! In the other semi, Germany created a small surprise edging the USA. They created a gap in the second end (117-114) that they didn’t let go. Final score is 233-229 pts.   The bronze medal match was one of the closest ever in Indoor ! Japan and USA were neck-to-neck : 58-57, 117-116, 174-174, and 231-231 pts. They had to shoot a tie-break. Each team shoot three arrows (one per team member), a maximum of three times. After the first three arrows, the teams were tied. After the second three arrows, the teams were still tied. On the third over-time of three arrows, both teams shot a perfect score of 30 pts ! It was then the arrow closes to the center that decided the winner and Wunderle gave the bronze medal to the USA ! The Japanese would anyway also deserve our congratulations for two superb matches today.   In the final, the teams of Italia and Germany started both strongly with a 59-58 for Italy after 6 arrows. They kept close after 12 arrows : 116 pts each. Later on, Frangilli, Galiazzo and Tonelli turned it on scoring 119 pts out of 120 in the last 12 arrows. Too much for the Germans. Italia won 235 - 228 pts !   Recurve Women Team In the first semi-finals, France defeated the Turkish hosts 229-225 pts. Germany joined the final defeating Ukraine 227-225 pts.   In the bronze medal match, it was really close between Ukraine and Turkey. Turkey was leading 174-173 but Ukraine prevailed 231 -229 pts at the end   France took an early and comfortable lead vs. Germany 58 to 54 after 6 arrows. They kept increasing to 117 – 108 pts halfway through. However, a few bad arrows shrank their lead to 170 -167 pts after 18 arrows. In the last quarter, the French managed to finish with a 59 pts, clinching the gold 229 – 224 pts !   Compound Men Team The USA made sure they had no worries going to the final. The 239 – 233 pts win versus Netherlands meant a new world record for Dave Cousins (team indoor match 239/240 pts). He currently holds eight World Records in the FITA table and has broken around 25 world records over his career. Cousins said: “Shooting the very last arrow, I didn’t know if I was relieved we were going to win the match or nervous about shooting a new world record. I am glad we did it again as a team, one more time with Reo Wilde and with the new comer Braden Gellenthien”. Nevertheless, the USA will not have an easy final at all versus France. The Frenchman shot 238 pts yesterday and 236 this morning (finishing with a perfect 180 pts after a slow start). They defeated Italy.   The Italian fought a very close medal match for the bronze versus Netherlands. They tied at 176 pts after 18 arrows and then at 232 pts. They had to shoot three arrows (one per team member) in the tie-break. The Dutch scored a perfect 30 and took the bronze.   In the final, the two teams had to adapt to the special Finals field in the Kültürpark Hall. They start both with a 58 pts, but France took a 117-116 pts lead after 12 arrows. The US came back after 18 arrows: 174 – 174 pts ! Once again, the Americans finished strong with another 58 pts while France could not keep the pace scoring 56 pts with their last 6 arrows. Final score : 232 – 230, gold for USA !   Compound Women Team The American favorites didn’t have too much trouble to go through in the women’s side as well. They move ahead of Belgium early on and clinched a 233-224 victory. The second match versus the number 2 and 3 seeds was closer. Russia dominated but the Italians gave it a good effort at the end only to fell short of two points. Russia won 230-228 pts.   The bronze medal was about the same but the Italian came on top this time. They were leading the entire match and just preserved a one point victory versus Belgium, 225-224 pts.   Russia, led by World Cup Winner Goncharova, took on the USA, with Van Natta, Collins and Pagel. The Russians took on an early lead after 6 arrows 57-56 out of a possible 60. At half-match, the score was 114-113, but the USA tied after 18 arrows at 170-170. The USA scored another 57 points with the last three arrows, while Russia could reach 56 pts, although one arrow was just outside the 10 circle. USA pulled out a come back victory 227- 226 pts !   Didier Miéville FITA Communication