26 June 2008 - Portugal, Finland, Belarus, Czech Republic and Spain win a Recurve Men place for the Games!

Portugal, Finland, Belarus, Czech Republic and Spain win a Recurve Men place for the Games!
Boe - 26 June 2008
 
In Boé, during the Final Olympic Qualification Tournament for archery, five places (maximum one per country) were won to participate at the next Olympic Games in Beijing. The four semi-finalists and the best lose from the quarter-finals qualified.
Here are the live commentaries of selected matches for men.
Recurve Men
 1st round: STRUKELJ Kresimir (CRO) - KOSY Nandor (HUN)
Strukelj had a good lead after six arrows, 50-45. Unfortunately he shot a 5 and 4 in the second end that destroyed all his dreams. With 7-9-9-9-X10-8, Kosy won the match 97-92.
  1st round: KIM Konstantine (KAZ) - GAJDOS Csaba (HUN)
The other Hungarian was not as successful. He also trailed after the first end (47-51). However, Kim did not give him a chance to come back. He scored X10-10-9-10-8-9 to clinch the match 107-98.
  1st round: MORILLO Daniel (ESP) - VILLACRECES Nino (ECU)
Leading 56-47 after six arrows, Morillo was impressive and scored 10-9-10-9-10-10 in the second half to clinch the match 114-89. The Spaniard is one of the favourites today.
  1st round: HENCKELS Jeff (LUX) - MALAVE Elias (LUX)
They were close after six arrows, 50-49. Malave managed to come back with 10-X10-9-9-8-9 to tie the match at 104. However, Henckels won the shoot-off, 9-7.
  1st round: LAPSINS Eduards - SHAHNAZARYAN Andranik
The match was tied at 108. Lapsins kept his nerve during the shoot-off and won 9-8.
  2nd round: HENCKELS Jeff (LUX) - LAPSINS Eduards (LAT)
The match was close after six arrows, 49-48. Then Henckels raised his level and scored 10-8-X10-9-6-8 to clinch the match 100-95.
  2nd round: MORILLO Daniel (ESP) - HRIN Vladimir (SVK)
Morillo started with 10-10-10-9-9-8 and Hrin with 10-10-10-9-8-10. The Slovakian led 57-56. However he could not keep it up. His second end was 10-8-8-7-9-9 for a total of 108 pts. Morillo followed up with X10-8-X10-X10-X10-10 to win with 114 pts.
 2nd round: KOSY Nandor (HUN) - LIAHUSHEV Alexander (BLR)
The Belarusian had the better hand during the whole match. He first achieved 10-9-8-10-8-7 and then 9-9-6-9-8-9 to clinch the match 102-97.
  2nd round: KIM Konstantine (KAZ) - ANDREAS Milan (CZE)
Kim started with 8-9-9-9-9-10 for 54 pts and Andreas with 10-10-10-8-9-8 for 55 pts. The Czech stayed solid with 9-8-8-8-9-X10 compared to Kim's 9-7-10-7-9-9. Andreas won a close and good match, 107-105.
  3rd round: CUESTA Elias (ESP) - LIAHUSHEV Alexander (BLR)
The match was tied at 51 points after six arrows at which point both archers raised their level. Cuesta scored 9-10-X10-8-9-8 for 105 pts. Liahushev did even better with 9-9-10-10-9-10. He clinched the match 108-105.
  3rd round: ANDREAS Milan (CZE) - NESTENG Baard (NOR)
Another close match. The score was tied at 54 pts. Then Nesteng shot 10-9-9 and finished with 8-8-8 for 106 pts. Andreas had 10-9-8-9-X10-10 and won the match 110-106.

  3rd round: MORILLO Daniel (ESP) - DIAZ Manuel (VEN)
The Spaniard kept shooting strongly. He had 9-9-9-8-8-10 to lead 53-51 at the half. Diaz shot 8-8-7-8-10-10 to get to 102. However, Morillo was solid with 9-X10-8-X10-9-7 to win 106-102.
  3rd round: HENCKELS Jeff (LUX) - KUNDA Maxim (BLR)
Another very close match! The score was tied at 51 pts after six arrows. Then Henckels shot 8-X10-10-6-8-8, but Kunda was just better. He achieved 9-9-9-7-X10-7. With this 102-101 victory, Kunda advanced!
 Quarter-final: HATAVA Matti (FIN) – GANKIN Artem (KAZ)
Seeded no. 17, Hatava capped a great day for himsel and earned an Olympic ticket! He dominated the match 28-25, 55-51, 82-79 and 110-105!

Congratulations Matti, you are going to the Olympic Games!
  Quarter-final: LIAHUSHEV Alexander (BLR) - ANDREAS Milan (CZE)
Both archers have had a great run so far but only one could qualify for the Olympic Games. The match was tense. Liahushev opened with 10-8-8 to lead 26-25 after the first end. Andreas came back with 9-9-X10 to take the lead 53-52. He maintained his one-point advantage when both archers had 7-8-9 in the third end. The score was 77-76 for Andreas. He stayed solid with 8-10-9 to clinch an Olympic qualification and the match 104-101.

Congratulations Milan!

  Quarter-finals: SALEM Ali (QAT) - POMBO Nuno (POR)
Salem from Qatar had a very nice run to reach these quarter-finals. He started with 10-7-8 to lead 25-24. However, Pombo then scored X10-10-10 to regain the lead, 54-53. The Portuguese then scored 9-10-10 and 9-9-9 and did not give a chance to Salem. Pombo won 110-105 and goes to the Olympics.

Congratulations Nuno!

  Quater-final: MORILLO Daniel (ESP) - KUNDA Maxim (BLR)
Kunda had the best start with 10-9-9 and 10-10-8 to lead the match 56-53 after six arows. He increased his lead with 9-9-X10 to 84-80. However he finished only with 8-8-9. Morillo, who had a gread day so far, finished with 9-9-10. Still, Kunda won 109-108! However, Morillo is the highest scoring loser of these quarter-finals and also qualifies for Beijing!

Congratulations to Maxim and Daniel!
  Semi-final: HATAVA Matti (FIN) – ANDREAS Milan (CZE)
The matches continued at a high level. The score was tied at 27-27, 55-55. Andreas took a small lead at 83-82. However, Hatava came back to clinch the match 108-107.
  Semi-finals: KUNDA Maxim (BLR) - POMBO Nuno (POR)
Kunda had an early lead, 25-22 and 51-49. Pombo came back at 78-78, then both archers shot a 10 and 8. At the last arrow the wind rose; Kunda shot 8 but Pombo shot a 9 to win the match!
 Bronze Medal Match: ANDREAS Milan (CZE) - KUNDA Maxim (BLR)
Andreas led 27-26 but then Kunda took the lead 54-53, 82-78 and clinched the match 109-106.
  Gold Medal Match: HATAVA Matti (FIN) – POMBO Nuno (POR)
A true gold medal match! Hatava started with a 30 and then led 58-57. Pombo came back to lead 85-84 and finally won this qualification tournament 113-108!
  Shoot-off stand-by place: SALEM Ali (QAT) - GANKIN Artem (KAZ)
This shoot-off was to decide on who is first and who is second on the stand-by list for the Olympic spots.

The shoot-off was won by Salem with an 9. Gankin shot a 8. Qatar goes first on the stand-by list.
   
Didier Miéville
FITA Communication

NB: X10 and 10 are both 10 points. X10 were mentionned for information whenever possible. The arrows are mentioned in order whenever possible.