5 April 2008 - Chinese Taipei and Great Britain Team Champions!

Chinese Taipei and Great Britain Team Champions! Santo Domingo, 5 April 2008   Today the Team Finals were shot at the Fortaleza Ozama in Santo Domingo, the oldest fort of the New World. All Teams fought hard for victory, but at the end only the ones who managed the local conditions the best won the matches. The winning teams are Chinese Taipei, Great Britain, United States and Russia! Below our live comments on the matches:   Recurve Men Gold Medal - Australia vs. Chinese Taipei  Chinese Taipei took the lead in the first end as the Australians opened the match with two 7s (53-51). The athletes from Chinese Taipei seemed to be in great shape today. They shot a 56-point end and easily increased their lead to 109-103. Though trying hard, the Australians were not able to come back in the next end either, as their 53 points were lower than Chinese Taipei’s 55 points. The gap increased again in favour of Chinese Taipei: 164-156. The last end did not bring any surprise, and Chinese Taipei won gold with a final score of 219 against Australia’s 212. Australia took silver.   Bronze Final - India vs. Italy  The first end of this match was close, with both teams shooting very well. Italy took the lead at 57-55. Things changed in the second end, when the Italian team shot two 6s, offering the lead to the Indian team 108-105. The Italians tried their best to recover shooting 9-9-8-10-7-10, but this was not enough against India’s 9-10-7-8-8-9 (159-158). The last end changed balance completely: the Indians were still ahead after the first four arrows, but the Italians tied on the fifth. India then shot a final 6 offering victory to Italy (8-9-10-9-8-6 / 9-10-8-9-9-10)! The Italians take the bronze medal home!   Recurve Women Gold Medal - Italy vs. Great Britain  Italy had a bad start shooting a 5, leaving the lead to Great Britain 51-47. After some sight corrections, the Italians shot a 50-point end, while the British ladies increased their advantage with a good 53-point end (104-97). The Italians did their best to reach the British score, but did not succeed. They were still trailing by 4 points, although Great Britain shot a 5 at their last arrow (152-148). The Italians could not do anything against the Great Britain team, and lost the match 196-207. Great Britain won gold, while Italy went back home with the silver medal.   Bronze Final - Georgia vs. France  France had quite a bad start shooting two 6s in the first end, and giving the lead to Georgia 47-43. France seemed to face some problems as their second end was only of 49 points. Georgia was a bit more consistent and managed to shoot 51 points, keeping the lead 98-92. The next end became a bit windy, and Georgia shot a 5, giving hope to France for a possible recovery. The score was 145-142. This end was dramatic for both teams due to the wind: Georgia shot 7-10-4-10-7-9 while France shot 6-8-8-5-7-10. It was finally Georgia who would bring the bronze medal back home on the final score of 192-186.   Compound Men Gold Medal - USA vs. Australia  Australia was ahead in the first end as they shot 9-9-10-10-10-10 vs. USA’s 9-9-10-10-9-9 (58-56). The Americans tied the score at 113 point in the second end as the Australians shot 9-10-9-10-8-9 (10-9-9-10-10-9 for USA). What a fight in the following end! Australia shot one point higher than their opponents, taking the lead by one point (170-169). The last end would decide on the winner, even before it was over: the US team came back very strong, while Australia dropped concentration a bit. USA had won the match two arrows before the end (10-10-10-9-10-10 vs. 9-10-9-9-10-10). Final score: 228-227.   Bronze Final - El Salvador vs. Mexico   The start of this match was very close as the arrows shot were respectively 10-8-8-9-10-9 and 9-8-10-9-9-9, making it 54 points on each side. El Salvador shot a 7 in the second end and this made them drop the score to 106-109. Mexico was strong and shot a great end of 57 points with four X10s, while the El Salvadorian athletes shot 55 points, bringing the score to 161-167. The Mexicans managed to keep their lead in the third end to win the bronze medal match on the final score of 222-216.   Compound Women Gold Medal - Germany vs. Russian Federation Germany opened the match with a good 57-point end, leading ahead the Russian ladies who scored 56 points. In the second round, Germany shot 8-8-9-9-10-10, while Russia scored X10-X10-9-9-7-9. This 7 did not affect the result, as they are still ahead by one point 111-110. Russia did shoot a better third end with 57 points against Germany’s 54. This brought the score to 165-167, meaning Russia overtook the Germans by 2 points at that time! The last end was dramatic for the Germans, as they shot a 6 and a 7. Russia took benefit of it to increase the lead and bring the gold medal back home. Final score: 214-220!   Bronze Final - Great Britain vs. Mexico  Great Britain had a bad start shooting 8-8-8-9-10-8 (51), while Mexico scored 9-8-10-10-9-10 (56). The two teams shot 56 points in the second end. Mexico was still leading by 4 (112-108). In the third end, the British archers tried hard to come back scoring 10-10-9-9-10-10 (58), against Mexico’s 53 points. They overtook the Mexicans by one point at 166-165. The Mexicans did their best to change the situation back... The Britons thought they had won, but an arrow correction by the Judge tied the match at 219 points. A shoot-off session was necessary to decide the winning team...   Great Britain shoot-off arrows were 9-10-10. Mexico scored 10-9-10. The score was tied again! Great Britain continued with a triple 9. Mexico shot a 10, followed by an 8. They finally took the bronze medal shooting a 10 with their final arrow!   Chantal Steiner FITA Communication