27 May 2008 - Decisive World Cup stage in Antalya!

Decisive World Cup stage in Antalya! Antalya - 27 May 2008   With around 350 archers the Meteksan Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Antalya promises an intense competition. Just two months before the Olympic Games the athletes need to show that they are ready.   For the third consecutive year, Antalya (TUR) will host a World Cup stage. Many archers are still on the run to qualify for the World Cup Final. This stage will narrow down the pretenders before the last stage of the World Cup in Boé (FRA) just three weeks later.  Recurve Men Romain Girouille (FRA) is dominating the World Cup ranking with 37 points but all the others athletes will look badly for points in Antalya. The Santo Domingo winner Ilario Di Buo (ITA) needs to get over his “zero” from the Stage 2 in Porec. Eight archers are in a close hunt and four of them come from India: Rahul Banerjee, Jayanta Talukdar, Tarundeep Rai, Mangal Singh Champia. Two Koreans are in the mix: World Champion Im Dong Hyun photo and Park Kyung-Mo. We also find Kuo Cheng Wei (TPE) and the 2007 World Cup Winner and fresh European Champion Baljinima Tsyrempilov (RUS). Finally we will mention Juan Rene Serrano (MEX), Magnus Petersson (SWE), Rafal Dobrowolski and Piotr Pakek (POL), Ruban Viktor (UKR) and Kim Ha-Neul (AUS).   Recurve Women World Champion and Santo Domingo winner Natalia Valeeva (ITA) photo is leading the World Cup ranking with 40 points. She is 11 points ahead of Justyna Mospinek (POL). The Koreans Yun Ok Hee and Olympic Champion Park Sung-Hyun are not far behind, and so is Natalya Erdyniyeva (RUS). The European Champion Berengere Schuh (FRA), Lisa Unruh (GER), Roman Aida (MEX), Wei Pi-Hsiu (TPE), Laishram Bombayla Devi (IND), Naomi Folkard (GBR) and He Ying (CHN) are also in the run. Her team-mate Zhang Juan Juan (CHN), Victoria Koval (UKR) and Elena Tonetta are among the archers that absolutely need to score a lot of points.   Compound Men Thanks to his regularity, the 2006 winner in Antalya, Roberval Dos Santos (BRA) photo, is at the top of the World Cup ranking with 31 points. He is just ten points off his last-year performance which barely earned him a place in the World Cup Final. He is closely followed by the World Champion Dietmar Trillus (CAN). The race to the Final in this category is always very tough and many contenders are still very much alive: Liam Grimwood (GBR), Porec winner Sergio Pagni (ITA), Robert Timms (AUS) and Dominique Genet (FRA). Some others need a strong come back in Antalya: Patrizio Hofer (SUI), Peter Elzinga (NED), Braden Gellenthien (USA) and 2007 World Winner Jorge Jimenez (ESA)!   Compound Women That category is the one where the archers need to earn the most points in order to qualify for the World Cup Final. The qualifying fourth place stood at 52 points last year. With her recent win in Porec Amandine Bouillot (FRA) photo thrones on top of the World Cup ranking with 40 points. She is followed by the surprising Ivana Buden (CRO) with 33 points. Then the ranking is very tight for Jamie Van Natta (USA), Albina Loginova (RUS), Nichola Simpson (GBR), Jhanu Hansdah (IND), Camilla Soemod (DEN) and Andrea Gales (GBR). Some others will have to react strongly in Antalya such as fresh Team European Champions Sofia Goncharova and Anna Kazantseva (RUS), Nicky Hunt (GBR) and World Champion Eugenia Salvi (ITA)!   The competition will start with a 70-meter Round as qualifications on Wednesday 28 May. Team finals will be played on Friday and individual finals on Saturday… on the beach in Antalya!   Didier Miéville FITA Communication