Individual Recurve Eliminations

Crispin DUENAS (CAN)    Recurve Men In the first round (1/32 eliminations), the top seeded archers had byes. The others started with their 12-arrow matches. The Italian GALIAZZO—2004 Olympic champion—who was sick the day of qualifications and only shot six arrows in order not to be disqualified, was seeded last (no. 48) and faced No. 17 PEART from Great Britain. In this match, the Briton did not find his marks and trailed 54-57 after six arrows already. After PEART shot a six to open the second half, GALIAZZO finally won the first match easily, 112-104. There was no other real upset in the first round. Except for the no. 35 seed ALVAREZ (COL) who beat the no. 30 REZENDE XAVIER (BRA) by 109-104, all other best ranked competitors won their respective matches.

In the 1/16 elimination round, GALIAZZO then faced his fellow countryman TONELLI. The two were still close at the half-way mark, GALIAZZO leading 55-53. However, a 7 at the eighth arrow took all hopes from TONELLI to recover and he lost 105-107. There were two other matches between teammates in the second round. The no. 8 seed and recent indoor world bronze medallist DOBROWOLSKI (POL) beat his fellow countryman GOLY (no. 25), 112-106. The no. 4 SERRANO (MEX) easily defeated (113-108) another Mexican, LASTRA (no. 29).

The top seeded competitor, BANERJEE from India, suffered a bitter defeat in the 1/8 round against GALIAZZO. The Italian started with three 10s and had a 2-point lead after six arrows (56-54). He added three more 10s in the second half of the match and clinched victory 112-108. Defeat also for another Indian TALUKDAR. However, this time he has no-one but himself to blame, as he shot his sixth arrow on the wrong target! It was a 10 but considered as a miss. His opponent from Canada, DUENAS (no. 5), can only thank him, winning 105-102.

DUENAS then qualified for the semi-finals beating no. 4 SERRANO in a tight match he won 109-107. GALIAZZO also went on getting rid of DOBROWOLSKI 113-110. Close play also between no. 3 GIROUILLE (FRA) and no. 6 GODFREY (GBR), with a victory for the Frenchman 107-105. The no. 7 seed TERRY (GBR) upset the no. 2 CHAMPIA (IND) 114-112.

The first semi-final was between GALIAZZO and DUENAS. The Canadian led by one point after the first two ends (28-27 and 56-55). However, his opponent from Italy recovered and tied in the third end (83-83). DUENAS then clinched victory thanks to a perfect final series of three arrows (10-10-10!) The final score was 113-109.

The second semi-final featured GIROUILLE vs TERRY. The Briton started with a perfect first end and led 30-29. The score was tied at the half-way mark (56-56), but then GIROUILLE took a 3-point lead 85-82 with only three arrows to go. He managed to keep a 2-point advantage to win 113-112.      Natalia VALEEVA (ITA) Recurve Women There was only seven 1/32 elimination matches taking place on the women’s side. All highest seeded archers were victorious in the first round. The tightest match was between no. 31 LIONETTI (ITA) and no. 34 CONTRERAS (COL). The two women were tied after six arrows at 49 points each. Although the Italian started the second half of the match with an 8, her opponent gave her a hand shooting two 7s at her ten and eleventh arrows. Final score: 102-101 in favour of LIONETTI.

In the second round, the no. 11 and 22 KUMARI (IND) and RAMIREZ (PUR) were tied after twelve arrows (102-102) and again after the first shoot-off (9-9). Finally, it was the Indian taking victory with a last 10 against a 9 for her opponent from Puerto Rico. The teammates VALEEVA (no. 2) and LIONETTI (no. 31) were facing each other in 1/16 eliminations. After the first half, LIONETTI led by one point (53-52). However, in the second part of the match, VALEEVA started with two 10s and a 9, while LIONETTI only scored 7-8-9. These were decisive arrows, and the latter bowed before her teammate on the final score of 101-107.

The 1/8 eliminations featured the upset of no. 3 seed and reigning European champion SCHUH (FRA). She was defeated 102-110 by 15-year old Mexican AVITIA. Another hopeful, ROMERO from Colombia (no. 18) gave a hard time to the no. 2 seed VALELEVA (ITA) in this round. After a tie-break at 105-105, the most experienced archer from Italy eventually won the shoot-off 9-8.

In quarterfinal, the two Indians DEVI (5) and BANERJEE (4) needed a tie-break to decide on the winner. After a 9 for each—DEVI’s first shoot-off arrow being just on the line—BANERJEE eventually scored a 10 to win the match (9 for DEVI). The 100% Italian match between TONETTA and VALEEVA was very close with only three arrows to go (79-78 for VALEEVA). There was a tie before the last arrow (96-96), and VALEEVA first shot a 9 to finish her match. With a 10 or a 9, TONETTA would have won or tied, but on the clock, she released a 6 and left victory to her friend. Upset for no. 1 and 2008 World Cup winner MOSPINEK (POL) who lost to no. 8 WILLIAMSON (GBR) by 102-108. The fourth semi-finalist was KUMARI (IND) who beat AVITIA (MEX) 103-100.

In semi-final, VALEEVA (ITA) did not face real opposition. She seemed self-confident, shooting really quickly and really well. She beat KUMARI (IND) 111-104 to win the right to shoot for gold on Sunday.

The second semi-final between WILLIAMSON (GBR) and BANERJEE (IND) was a very strange match... The Briton started with a 5 but still led 24-23 after three arrows. WILLIAMSON shot a 10 in each end was not very consistent with the other arrows. However, her opponent never could take advantage of it, also shooting some 6s, 7s and 8s. At the end, WILLIAMSON won the match 101-95.    Ludivine MAITRE WICKI FITA Communication