Individual Compound Eliminations

     Compound Men In the first round (1/32 eliminations) of the compound men’s competition, no. 15 seed DOS SANTOS (BRA) and no. 50 ROBIOU (DOM) were tied at 56 points each after the first half. However, with an 8 and a 6 at his seventh and twelfth arrows, the local archer could not take the pressure and conceded defeat 109-114. His fellow countryman GOICO DE LARA (no. 36) took victory 115-110 over Venezuelan HERNANDEZ (no. 29).

The 1/16 eliminations saw an upset with the no. 1 seeded archer COUSINS (USA) defeated by no. 33 KHURAIJAM (IND). The Indian started the match with a perfect first six arrows to take a 3-point lead, 60-57. In the second half, the two contenders scored 57 points each and KHURAIJAM maintained his advantage to clinch victory. Another top seeded athlete conceded defeat. PAGNI (ITA), No. 9, was tied with no. 24 VELEZ (PUR) at the half-way mark (55-55). In the second haf of the match, PAGNI took the road to ruin with two 8s and lost by a mere point, 110-111. The 2007 World Cup winner JIMENEZ (ESA), no. 12, also lost by one point to a lower seeded opponent, HERMES (GUA), on the score of 111-112.

HERNANDEZ (ESA), seeded no. 13, created an upset in 1/8 final, defeating no. 4 TATARYN (CAN). The Salvadoran took a 1-point lead after six arrows (57-56) that he managed to keep to the end. He clinched victory over the Canadian, 115-114. The Guatemalan HERMES (no. 21) gave a hard time to the reigning world champion and 2008 World Cup Final winner from Canada TRILLUS (no. 5). At the half-way mark, the two competitors were tied at 57 points. However, TRILLUS made his move in the second half of the match and took victory 115-111.

In quarterfinal, the experienced TRILLUS made a huge mistake, shooting one arrow on the wrong target (!) Although he led 29-26 after three arrows in his match against HERNANDEZ, the Canadian scored a miss (0 point) at his sixth arrow. Despite a 6 at his fourth arrow, his opponent from El Salvador took a 3-point lead at the half-way mark (51-48). A perfect 30-point third end was not enough for TRILLUS to recover and he conceded defeat by one point, 106-107. Two other upsets in this round with no. 6 ELZINGA (NED) defeating no. 3 DAMSBO (DEN), 116-114, and no. 7 HOFER (SUI) beating no. 2 R. WILDE (USA), on the same score. This is the first time that the Swiss has beaten the American in an outdoor competition.

HOFER continued, beating ELZINGA 118-114. The match was of a very high level with both athletes never shooting out of the yellow ring (10 and 9 points) in this confrontation. However, the Swiss took an early 2-point lead after three arrows, scoring more 10s than his opponent. The advantage increased to three points (58-55) after six arrows. It then remained stable as the two men scored a perfect third end each (88-85). HOFER duplicated his 10-10-10 previous end, thus ensuring he would shoot for gold on Sunday. In the second semi-final, the American GELLENTHIEN quite easily defeated his opponent HERNANDEZ, 115-110 after the Salvadoran scored two 8s in the second end.      Olga BOSCH (VEN) Compound Women There was no 1/32 elimination round in compound women, as only 32 competitors entered the competition. In the 1/16 eliminations an upset came in the match between the French 2008 World Cup finalist BOUILLOT and the 17-year old Mexican GONZALEZ. Though BOUILLOT had a comfortable lead at the half-way mark, 58-53, she let her opponent come back and tie at 109-109. The first two shoot-off arrows were 10s for both competitors, but in the last tie-break, GONZALEZ duplicated it while BOUILLOT “only” scored 9.

The 2007 indoor and outdoor world champion SALVI (ITA), no. 5 seed, conceded an early departure in 1/8 eliminations. The Italian was tied with the American ANSCHUTZ (12) after the first end (52-52) and the second end (108-108). In the shoot-off, she shot a 9, leaving the door open to ANSCHUTZ who clinched victory with a 10. The match between no. 8 A. OCHOA (MEX) and no. 9 SOEMOD (DEN) turned in favour of the Mexican who beat the Dane 112-108.

Seven athletes from the top 8 were present in the quarterfinals with only the no. 5 seed SALVI from Italy missing. In this round, the Croatian BUDEN (CRO), seeded no. 2, suffered an upset against no. 7 LORENTI (USA). After a perfect start and a 4-point lead (30-26), she seemed to slowly lose her way, the difference going down to two points (84-82) and to a tie after twelve arrows (112-112). In the tie-break, BUDEN scored an 8, and with a 9, LORENTI stole victory from her. The three other competitors from the top 4—VAN NATTA (USA), BOSCH (VEN) and WATSON (USA)—all qualified for the semi-finals.

The competitor from Venezuela, BOSCH, appeared a bit lonely in the semi-finals among three representatives of the USA. In her match against LORENTI, the score was tied after three arrows (29-29) and six arrows (56-56). The American then took the lead by one point (83-82) with only one end to go. She eventually clinched victory 111-108 and will shoot for gold on Sunday in downtown Santo Domingo against her fellow countrywoman VAN NATTA. The latter easily defeated another American WATSON, 115-105, in the second semi-final.   Ludivine MAITRE WICKI FITA Communication