11 April 2008 - New participation record for Archery World Cup Stage 2 in Porec!

New participation record for Archery World Cup Stage 2 in Porec! Lausanne - 11 April 2008 Winners in Santo Domingo (photo), Valeeva (ITA),    Di Buo (ITA) and Van Natta (USA) return in Porec   With more than 360 athletes registered for the World Cup Stage 2, Porec (CRO) will set a new participation record. All the archery power houses are coming, including Korea and China.   After the World Cup Stage 1 in Santo Domingo (DOM) last week, most of the athletes only had a short break before the Porec event. This little town in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea hosted the very first World Cup competition back in 2006. The whole archery community is looking forward to coming back to Porec.   Recurve Men The Santo Domingo winner Di Buo (ITA) wants to confirm his good start of the season. He will be accompanied by the Olympic Champion Galiazzo, Nespoli and the returning Frangilli. Runner-up in Dominican Republic, Kuo Cheng Wei will compete again with his team-mates Wang Cheng Pang and Cheng Szu Yuan. The 2007 World Cup winner Tsyrempilov (RUS) also had a good start in Santo Domingo as well as the whole Indian team (Rai, Champia, Banerjee and Talukdar). Some other contenders include Girouille and Aubert (FRA), Serrano and Velez Sanchez (MEX), Petersson (SWE), Dobrowolski (POL), Cheng Chu Sian (MAS), Furukawa (JPN) Xue Hai Feng and Yong Fujun (CHN). However, archers beware. The power house Korea will actually start its international season in Porec. The names in the team are impressive: current World Champion Im Dong Hyun, Kim Jae Hyeong, Lee Chang Hwan and 2006 World Cup winner Park Kyung-Mo.   Recurve Women Two very experienced Koreans, Olympic Champion Park Sung-Hyun and Yun Ok Hee, will anchor two new-comers, Joo Hyun Jung and Kwak Ye Ji. They will be awaited by the World Champion and Santo Domingo winner Valeeva (ITA), together with her team-mate Tonetta and Lionetti. Tsyrempilov’s niece and World Championships bronze medallist, Erdyniyeva (RUS), is also a very serious contender. The 2007 World Cup winner and new sport star in India, Banerjee, wants to improve on her performance from last week. Her predecessor, Zhang Juan Juan (CHN) will start her Olympic campaign with a lot of hopes. The other potential winners are: Mospinek and Cwienczek (POL), Schuh (FRA), Unruh (GER), Roman (MEX), Wei Pi-Hsiu (TPE), Waller (AUS), Laursen (DEN) Folkard (GBR) and Koval (UKR).      Team Finals in Santo Domingo last weekCompound Men Santo Domingo saw almost all the top archers of this category compete; however Porec has many strong entries as well. The 2007 World Cup winner and Salvadorian hero Jimenez will be there. His main contenders will be the World Champion Trillus (CAN), Dos Santos (BRA) Brasseur and Genet (FRA), Hofer (SUI), Damsbo (DEN), Grimwood (GBR), Pagni (ITA), Elzinga and Custers (NED). Moreover, the two Australians that finished 2nd and 3rd in Santo Domingo are coming back: Timms and Coghlan.   Compound Women After her impressive display in Santo Domingo, Van Natta (USA) surely wants another victory. Once again, she will have Goncharova (RUS) on her road together with team-mate Loginova (RUS). The best Croatian hopes will be represented by Buden, who reached the 2nd place last week, and the young Zorman. The other athletes include Bouillot (FRA), Soemod (DEN), Markovic (NED), Hansdah (IND), Weihe (GER), Willems (BEL), Hunt and Simpson (GBR). Finally let’s not forget the Indoor and Outdoor World Champion in 2007, Salvi (ITA)!   The competition will start with a 70-meter Round as qualifications on Wednesday 16 April. For the finals on Saturday 20 April, the athletes will really shoot over the water of the Adriatic Sea. What a show in perspective!   Didier Miéville FITA Communication