World Cup Final winner PAGNI back for Gold

Compound Men

The clash of the first round was a remake of the World Cup Final gold medal match in 2008. Dietmar TRILLUS (CAN) played against Patrizio HOFER (SUI) and beat him yet another time. The match was close. TRILLUS scored 10-10-10-9-10-10 (59) in the first set, one point better than HOFER’s 10-10-9-10-10-9 (58). The Canadian led 2 set points to none. TRILLUS went on with another X10-X10-10-9-10-10 (59), again just one point better than HOFER’s X10-10-9-10-10-99 (58). Therefore TRILLUS won the match 4-0 in set points. Dominique GENET (FRA) also had a tight match against Roberval DOS SANTOS (BRA). Both have won at World Cup level. The French athlete started with 10-10-10-10-9-10 (59) better than the 10-9-10-10-9-9 (57) of the Brazilian. DOS SANTOS continued with another set of 57 and GENET did only 55. The match was tied 2 set points a piece. GENET won the decisive set to clinch the match 4-2. The experienced Clint FREEMAN (AUS) played against the young Anton KHLYSCHENKO (RUS). They tied the first set 55-55. Then the Australian just clinched the second set 58-57 to take the lead 3-1. He shot another 58 in the third set to prevent the Russian to tie the match. FREEMAN won 5-1. Finally, the no. 1 seed Peter ELZINGA (NED) played against the home Croatian Vladimir BARTOL (CRO) They tied the first set 59-59. BARTOL clinched the second set 57-56. Then ELZINGA turned on the heat with a perfect 60 to tie the match, 3 set points each. In the one-arrow only shoot-off, ELZINGA shot 9 while BARTOL concluded the upset with a 10! BARTOL won the match 4-3!

The clash in the second round was between Braden GELLENTHIEN (USA) and GENET. The American won the first set 59-56. The French archer won the second set 59-58. GENET shot 9-9-10-9-9-10 in the third set but the GELLENTHIEN shot a perfect 60 to clinch the match 4-2. Basically the same happened to Chris WHITE (GBR) and TRILLUS. The Canadian also concluded with a perfect 60 to win 4-2 (59-58, 56-58, 60-57). BARTOL continued his way beating Morten BOE (NOR) 4-2 (57-59, 58-55, 57-55). Kevin BURRI (SUI) had an intense match with former world champion Morgan LUNDIN (SWE). The young Swiss took the first set, 57-56, but LUNDIN tied the match in the second set 59-58. LUNDIN had to be perfect in the third set 60-59! LUNDIN won 4-2.

Guess what was the clash of the third round? GELLENTHIEN-TRILLUS! They tied the first set at 59. Then the American shot 9-10-10-10-10-10, but TRILLUS had a perfect 10-10-10-10-10-10 and took the advantage 3-1. He held it in the third set. He scored 9-9-X10-X10-10-X10 (58), one better than GELLENTHIEN who had 10-10-9-9-9-10 (57). TRILLUS won 5-1. The No. 4 seed Sergio PAGNI (ITA) had a close match with Robert TURNER (AUS). The Australian won the first set 58-57. Then the Italian took the second one 59-57. They were tied in the third 58-58! In the one-arrow shoot-off, TURNER shot first and just caught the 10 ring. PAGNI was rock solid and hit the bull’s eye to win the match 4-3! BARTOL had the Croatians cheer again but he could not hold it until the end. He tied the first set with Jose DUO (ESP) 59-59. Then the Croatian won 59-58. However the Spanish came back in the third 59-55. The match was tied at 3-3. In the shoot-off both archers shot a 10, but DUO was the closest to the center to advance to the next round.

In the quarterfinals, a great start and consistency were the key. PAGNI had the perfect start against Dave COUSINS (USA), 30-29. Then both archers tied the next two sets 29-29, 29-29. The Italian won the fourth set 30-29 and clinch the match 6-2. Sam KYRITSOGLOU (BEL) had a perfect start against TRILLUS, 30-29. TRILLUS then had a perfect 30 to tie the match. Then both archers did 29-29. Then Belgium took the lead again 5-3 when he won the fourth set 29-27. He did not let go in the fifth with X10-X10-9. TRILLUS did the same but that wasn’t enough. KYRITSOGLOU won the mach 6-4. It was the exact same story but at an incredible level between world champions, LUNDIN and Reo WILDE (USA). The American won 6-4 (29-28, 28-29, 30-30, 30-29 and 30-30)! In the last quarterfinal, DUO took the lead twice, but twice Martin DAMSBO (DEN) managed to tie the match. He finally won in the shoot-off 6-5 (28-28, 28-29, 30-28, 29-30, 29-27, T10-T9)!

DAMSBO and PAGNI were close to perfection. They started with 30-30, 30-30 and then PAGNI won the third set 29-28. Then they tied 29-29. PAGNI had the edge but DAMSBO managed to tie the match when he won the fifth set 29-27. In the shoot-off, DAMSBO shot a 10, but PAGNI had an X10 very close to the center. The Italian won 6-5. In the other semifinal, KYRITSOGLOU had a great come-back victory over WILDE 6-4 (29-29, 29-28, 28-29, 28-26, 28-28)!

Compound Women

The 2007 world champion Eugenia SALVI (ITA) suffered from a first round defeat against Barbara KRIZE (SLO). The Slovenian took the first set 55-54. The Italian tied it with 55-50 in the second set. KRIZE won the decisive set 55-53 to take the match 4 set points to 2. In the Croatian dual between Ivana BUDEN and Tanja ZORMAN, the World Cup finalist in 2008 and 2009, BUDEN, prevailed in the third set 4-2 (55-52, 52-55, 55-46). Finally another interesting match of the first round was the one of the former FITA Round world record holder Gladys WILLEMS (BEL) against Sepideh SHABANI (IRI). The Belgium prevailed 4-0 (59-58, 56-53).

The road of the local hero BUDEN stopped in the second round. She took the first set against Diane WATSON (USA) 55-53, but the American came back to win the two following sets 55-53 and 58-57. Inge VAN CASPEL (NED) upset Nichola SIMPSON (GBR) in a tight match. The British athlete took the first set 56-55. Then they tied the second set 56-56. SIMPSON still led 3-1 in set points, but VAN CASPEL took the last set 57-55 to tie the match at 3-3. In the shoot-off, the British had 9, while the Dutch did not miss the 10! The No. 1 seed Albina LOGINOVA (RUS) had to work hard versus Pascale LEBECQUE (FRA). She won the first set 59-57 and tied the second one 57-57. However, the French managed to come back with a perfect 60 in the third set! The match was tied at 3-3 and LOGINOVA earned the extra point in the shoot-off, 10-9. The No. 2 seed Jamie VAN NATTA (USA) prevailed over WILLEMS 4-0 (58-57, 58-57).

The world champion LOGINOVA had to work hard again in the 1/8 elimination round but she prevailed in the second set against VAN CASPEL. The Russian won 4-2 (55-55, 58-54, 57-57). Two of the World Cup finalists in Copenhagen met in this round, Camilla SOEMOD (DEN) and Nicky HUNT (GBR). The British got an edge in the first set 59-55. She managed to tie the next two sets 57-57 and 55-55 to win the match 4-2. Irina MARKOVIC (NED) took the lead over VAN NATTA 2-0 (10-10-9-9-10-10 vs. 10-9-9-10-9-9). VAN NATTA came back with a strong 59 in the second set to tie the match at 2-2. In the third set, both archers were really close. The Dutch did 9-10-10-10-10-9, while the American achieved 10-10-9-9-10-8. This last 8 cost VAN NATTA the match. MARKOVIC won 4-2.

A couple of five setters also took place in the women quarterfinals. LOGINOVA first took the lead over Sandrine VANDIONANT (FRA) 29-26. The French took the next two sets 27-26, 29-28. The Russian tied it at 4-4 by winning the fourth set 29-27. In the fifth set LOGINOVA did 10-8-10. VANDIONANT had 9-10-10 to win the match 6-4. HUNT and Troja CERNE (SLO) traded scores during the first four sets (29-28, 28-29, 30-27, 27-30). At the end HUNT won 29-28 in the fifth set. In the other quarterfinals Erika ANSCHUTZ (USA) beat the 2009 World Cup Final winner Luzmary GUEDEZ (VEN) 6-2 and Ashley WALLACE (CAN) beat Irina MARKOVIC (NED) 6-2.

WALLACE continued shooting well in the semifinal. She took the lead 2-0 (29-27) against ANSCHUTZ then 3-1 (28-28) and 5-1 (29-28). They tied the fourth set and that was enough for WALLACE to clinch the match 6-2. HUNT had the better start in the other semifinal. She won the first two sets, 29-25 and 30-27 against VANDIONANT. The French won the third set 27-26, but HUNT finished it off in the fourth 28-26. HUNT won 6-2.

Finals are on Saturday at the Porec Marina

Didier MIEVILLE
World Archery Communication