14 August 2008 - PARK (KOR) breaks Olympic record, Korean women primed for sweep

PARK (KOR) breaks Olympic record, Korean women primed for sweep Beijing - 14 August 2008 ZHANG Juan Juan (CHN) v Natalia ERDYNIYEVA (RUS)    No. 1 seed PARK Sung-Hyun (KOR) shot a near perfect score of 115 out of 120 to set a 12-arrow Olympic record in the women's 1/8 individual elimination round at the Olympic Green Archery Field on Thursday. PARK and her teammates YUN Ok-Hee (KOR) and JOO Hyun-Jung (KOR) advanced as expected to the quarterfinals.     The Korean trio, already gold medallists from the team round on Sunday, are primed to sweep the women's individual event. The potential sweep would be a flash-back to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games where three Korean women took home all three individual medals.   In the most riveting match of the morning, 14-year-old Mariana AVITIA (MEX) showed she is ready to challenge the Koreans for a medal after taking out the No. 4 seed Khatuna NARIMANIDZE (GEO) in the 1/8 elimination match. AVITIA won the match on her final arrow, 109-108.   Leading archers who qualified for the top eight include Khatuna LORIG (USA) and ZHANG Juan Juan (CHN).   No. 24 seed Khatuna LORIG (USA) defeated Ana Maria RENDON (COL) by 12 points, 107-95. LORIG has returned to the Olympic Games after an eight-year absence.   ZHANG Juan Juan (CHN), the No. 27 seed, carries China's hopes for an individual Olympic title having won her 1/8 elimination match against Natalia ERDYNIYEVA (RUS) 110-98.   Nami HAYAKAWA (JPN) and KWON Un Sil (PRK) also qualified for the 1/4 elimination Round.   Elimination matches resume at 16:00 on Thursday 14 August at the Olympic Green Archery Field.   ONS jf/jg/skh/rw