13 August 2008 - LEE breaks 12-arrow record, primed to win gold in tough field

LEE breaks 12-arrow record, primed to win gold in tough field Beijing – 13 August 2008   With the crowd chanting his name after each arrow, No. 10 seed LEE Chang-Hwan (KOR) shot a near perfect score of 117 out of 120 to set a 12-arrow Olympic record in the men's individual elimination rounds at the Olympic Green Archery Field on Wednesday.   LEE and his teammate IM Dong-Hyun (KOR), along with three of the top four seeded archers, Juan Rene SERRANO (MEX), Viktor RUBAN (UKR) and PARK Kyung-Mo (KOR), advanced as expected to the 1/8 elimination round.     Other archers who qualified for the top 16 include Alan WILLS (GBR) and Victor WUNDERLE (USA).   In an exciting match that came down to the very last arrow, WILLS, the No. 21 seed, took out the reigning Olympic champion Marco GALIAZZO (ITA), in the 1/16 elimination round, 110-109.   WUNDERLE, the individual silver medallist at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, kept the USA's hopes alive for an individual medal when he defeated Ilario DI BUO (ITA) in a two-arrow shoot-off following a 108-108 tie. Both DI BUO and WUNDERLE shot a nine on the first arrow, but it was WUNDERLE who conquered with a 10 to DI BUO's eight on the second arrow.   In the biggest upset of the day, No. 2 seed Mangal Singh CHAMPIA (IND) failed to advance to the top 16. CHAMPIA lost to No. 31 seed Bair BADENOV (RUS), 109-108, but BADENOV did not win his next match.   Before the men's individual elimination rounds began on Wednesday, the Olympic record was 115. Although it was LEE who broke the record, three other archers, SERRANO, PARK, and Jacek PROC (POL) shot 116s in their elimination matches.    The Olympic record broken Wednesday was set 12 years ago at the Altanta 1996 Olympic Games by OH Kyo-Moon (KOR). OH is in Beijing as the head coach of the Australian archery team.   The men's 1/8 elimination matches begin at 10:30 on Friday 15 August at the Olympic Green Archery Field.   ONS jf/jg/bc/ac/adg