9 August 2008 - Top Koreans abound in archery ranking round

Top Koreans abound in archery ranking round  Beijing - 9 August   Day one of the archery competition begins with the women's and men's ranking Round at the Olympic Green Archery Field on Saturday 9 August.   Women's Ranking Round Favourites   Ø      In the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the Korean women earned three of the top four spots in the ranking round.    Ø      Athens 2004 gold medallist PARK (KOR) is expected to be in the top three, if not in first place at the completion of the ranking round. At the Athens Games, PARK shot a world record of 682 out of a possible 720 points in the ranking round. She is ranked No. 2 in the world. Ø      Ranked No. 1 in the world, YUN Ok-Hee (KOR) poses the strongest threat to PARK.    Women's Ranking Round Contenders   Ø      Natalia VALEEVA (ITA) is the reigning world champion and ranked No. 3 in the world. VALEEVA has been in the top 10 in the Olympic ranking round in the past two Olympics. Ø      Natalya ERDYNIYEVA (RUS) is ranked No. 4 in the world. Ø      Justyna MOSPINEK (POL) is ranked No. 5 in the world and at Athens 2004 she finished the ranking round in seventh place. Ø      ZHANG Juan Juan (CHN) is ranked No. 6 in the world and at Athens 2004 she finished the ranking round in fifth place.  Ø      Dola BANERJEE (IND) is the winner of the 2007 World Cup Final in Dubai and is ranked No. 12 in the world. Ø      Other potential top-10 finishers include Jennifer NICHOLS (USA), YUAN Shu Chi (TPE), JOO Hyun-Jung (KOR).   Men's Ranking Round Favourites   Ø      IM Dong-Hyun (KOR) is ranked No. 1 in the world and at the Athens Games he finished the ranking round in first place, setting a world record of 687 out of a possible 720 points.  Ø      PARK Kyung-Mo (KOR) is ranked No. 3 in the world and at the Athens Games he finished the ranking round in fourth place.   Men's Ranking Round Contenders   Ø      Baljinima TSYREMPILOV (RUS) is ranked No. 2 in the world and at the Athens Games he finished the ranking round in seventh place. Ø      Romain GIROUILLE (FRA) is ranked No. 4 in the world.  Ø      Alan WILLS (GBR) is a double bronze medallist in both the individual and the team events at the 2007 World Championships in Leipzig, Germany, and is ranked No. 5 in the world. Ø      KIM Sky (KOR) is a newcomer to the international scene but at the Beijing 2007 Test Event he finished the ranking round in first place.    Ø      Magnus PETERSSON (SWE) has successfully finished the ranking round in the top 10 in the past two Olympic Games and is expected to continue that trend at Beijing 2008. Ø      Other potential top-10 finishers include Brady ELLISON (USA), LEE Chang-Hwan (KOR) and Ilario Di BUO' (ITA).   Ranking Round Basics   Ø      64 female archers from 35 countries. Ø      64 male archers from 37 countries. Ø      Archers shoot 72 arrows (12 ends of six arrows) at a target 70m away. Ø      Archers have four minutes for each six-arrow end.  Ø      A perfect score is 720 and has never been achieved. Ø      The ranking round determines the seeding for the team and individual elimination rounds that follow.   ONS jd/jf/fa/rw