22 August 2007 - Beijing Test Event: Korea another time!

Korea another time! Beijing - 22 August 2007   The Recurve Men Koreans did as well as the women, taking the first place of team event. Malaysia was the surprising silver medallist while the USA got another bronze medal.      Team Malaysia  The Recurve Men’s Team event was as exciting as the women’s one, and we had some sumptuous matches throughout the day.   One of the first thrillers of the day was the close win of USA over Ukraine, 220-219, which led them on to meet Japan in the quarters. Today’s excitement kept rising in the form of the clash between Japan and the USA. The Japanese led the match all the way and had a 3-point lead (163-160) with six arrows to go. Unfortunately, Japan finished with 9-9-8 which permitted the Americans to tie the match with their last arrows, shooting 8-10-10. The two strong teams entered a tie break that left Japan trailing by 2 points, 27-29 after the two teams had shot three arrows each.   The numerous fans witnessed further disappointment for the host nation, as China followed the same route as their women’s team yesterday, with the men’s team also being knocked out in the first round after a loss to Malaysia, 214-218. Malaysia then beat the Russian Federation in the quarters 218-215, before facing the USA in the semi-finals. That semi-final saw the Malaysians shooting with a lot of time pressure but they scored some important points in the dying seconds of ends and came through with a win 219-213. Lee Chang Hwan (KOR)    Chinese Taipei did not have an easy task meeting Australia and then Italy in the first two rounds, but consistent high scoring secured them a place in the semi-final against Korea who performed some impressive scores, winning their first two matches with 224 and 228 points. This semi-final was one of the best matches of the day. The Koreans took their usual first end lead, 57-54. However, Chinese Taipei took advantage of a couple of unusual 8’s from the Koreans to reach the half-way match with only a one point deficit (111-110). Chinese Taipei then scored a couple of 8’s and was trailing 167-165 after 18 arrows. In the last end, Chinese Taipei put the pressure on scoring 9-10-10-10-9-9 but Korea answered with 9-10-9-10-9-9, just keeping a one point advantage for a 223-222 win.   The matches went on with the fight for the bronze medal and Chinese Taipei returned to the field to face the USA. The USA was trailing 110-114 after 12 arrows shooting with the order of the experienced Richard JOHNSON then Brady ELLISON and Vic WUNDERLE. However, WUNDERLE went into time troubles and was losing some points. The famous coach LEE then changed the order of rotation, having WUNDERLE shooting second and ELLISON last. It paid off for the USA who came back 168-169 and finished with an impressive 59 to clinch the bronze 227-223.   The favourite Koreans then met the surprising Malaysians in the gold medal final. The Malaysians kept giving a hard time to their opponents leading 56-55 after six arrows. The match was then tied at 83, before the Koreans took a small advantage midway, 112-110. The Korean archers IM D. H., KIM Y. C. and LEE C. H. increased their lead at 167-163 and won another gold medal 218-215!   All the archers will now be focusing on the individual competition beginning with the Women’s Individual 1/32 &1/16 Eliminations tomorrow.   Didier Miéville FITA Communication