28 May 2008 - The trial of strength between Korea and India ends with a World Record!

The trial of strength between Korea and India ends with a World Record! Antalya – 28 May 2008
The Archery World Cup Stage 3 started today in Antalya, Turkey. The afternoon was dedicated to the Recurve Men and Compound Women categories. The Indians and Koreans engaged in a trial of strength in the Recurve Men qualifications. Mangal Singh Champia (IND) finished 1st, ahead of Park Kyung-Mo and Im Dong Hyun (KOR) and his teammate Jayanta Talukdar. In the team event Korea set a new World Record for the 70m Round (3 x 72 arrows) with 2039 points. With a total of 2035 India also shot beyond the previous record—2031 shot by Korea in 1996.
Recurve Men The Indian Talukdar was ranked 1st with 342 points after 36 arrows. Champia was hot on his teammate’s heels. With 341 pts he temporarily clinched the 2nd place. At that moment the Mexican Serrano—World Cup 2007 Finalist—was only one pt behind at 3rd place (340).
After a strong battle, Champia (IND) and Park (KOR) finished with the same score of 684 pts. However, the Indian took the 1st place thanks to one more X10 (12 vs. 11). Two other Koreans Im (680) and Lee (675) took 3rd and 5th places respectively. The other Indians Talukdar (678) and Banerjee (673) finished 4th and 8th. The last archer to qualify for the eliminations was Dobrowolski from Poland with 638 pts.
In the team event the Indians held their own against the Koreans. They were 1st at the half-way mark with a 4-point advantage (1189 vs. 1185 for Korea). Another Asian country was 3rd at that time: the archers from Chinese Taipei totalled 1165 pts. The cut (qualification limit) was shared by Spain, Poland and Belarus at 1115 pts.
The Indians and Koreans were engaged in a real trial of strength. Korea finally set a new World Record for the 70m Round (3 x 72 arrows) with 2039 points. With a total of 2035 India also shot beyond the previous record—2031 shot by Korea in 1996. Chinese Taipei took the 3rd rank of the team qualifications with 1993, just ahead of Malaysia 4th with 1983. Two teams finished 16th with the same score (1927 pts). They will go to a shoot-off tomorrow to decide which team will advance to the elimination rounds.
Compound Women In this category, the American Van Natta—winner of this year’s World Cup Stage 1 (in Santo Domingo)—led after 36 arrows with 351 pts. She was ahead of the Russian Kazantseva (349) and the Dane Soemod (340).
Van Natta shot wonderfully this afternoon. With a total of 701 pts she finished by tying her own World Record for a 70m Round (72 arrows) that she has held since 2006. Behind her Kazantseva managed to keep 2nd place (694). The Italian Salvi came from 7th to 3rd rank with 681 pts. Buden (CRO) finished 4th with the same score. There was no cut in this category, since, only 30 competitors have entered the event.
In the team event where only four countries shot, Russia flew over the competition finishing 1st with 2042 pts. Great Britain took 2nd place with 1995 and Venezuela 3rd with 1952. Turkey placed 4th with 1905 pts.
The individual eliminations will take place tomorrow in Antalya!
Ludivine Maitre Wicki FITA Communication