Five countries win gold in the team and mixed team finals

Recurve Men Team

Bronze Medal – Great Britain vs China

Great Britain defeated China in their 3 previous encounters at World Cup stages in 2006, 2007 and 2008; however the Chinese won their last match, the 1/8 elimination rounds at the Beijing Olympics, on their way to the bronze medal. In Porec, Great Britain led 50-47 after the first end (9-7-9-7-9-9 to 10-8-5-7-9-8) and increased their lead in the second, 102-99 thanks to a low 7 from the Chinese. They nevertheless managed to tie at 156-156 going into the final end. The British scored a good 56 to conclude the match; the Chinese matched it with 9-10-9-8-10-10, their last archer releasing his arrow at the very last second. Both teams tied at 212-212, and tied again in the shoot-off at 27-27. Great Britain lost their medal hopes when their first archer scored a 7 in the second shoot-off. The team from China won the bronze 28-25.

Today we had the Canadian Olympic archer Crispin DUENOS to give us his insight into the competition:

The Great Britain team seems to be under a little stress, and this is evident by only having one 10 by the third end. For a Recurve shooter a little bit of tension will limit the number of 10s that you shoot. It was a rough first half for Great Britain, but their second half was a big improvement, and the same goes for China. A 7 in the second end of the tie-break ruined Great Britain’s chance at the bronze medal.

Gold Medal – India vs Italy

These teams have already met twice at the Porec World Cup, in 2008 and 2009. It was twice in semifinals. Italy won in 2008 and India in 2009. The Italian team competing here in Porec (Ilario DI BUO, Michele FRANGILLI, Marco GALIAZZO) had deprived India of an Olympic qualification in a shoot-off at the 2007 Worlds. DI BUO and GALIAZZO went on to win the silver medal in Beijing.

Today the Italians took a slight advantage in the first end (54-52) and gained one more point in the second (9-9-10-10-8-10 to 9-9-8-10-10-9). However India raised their level and shot a superb 58 in the third end to lead Italy 166-164. Shooting first, the Italians brought their total to 221. The team from India had a few errors (8-9-9-9-8-9) that gave the gold to Italy.

Crispin: India had six arrows out of the gold and Italy only had four. This led to the victory by Italy, but India shot very well. Italy was much more consistent in their shooting, showing the massive amount of experience they possess.

Recurve Women Team

Bronze Medal – Mexico vs China

The rain stopped in Porec as these two teams started their very first match against each other. China had a very good first end at 10-10-9-9-9-8 while Mexico lost a lot of points (8-9-9-7-8-8). China led by 6 points, 55-49. Mexico came back very strongly in the second end (9-10-9-10-10-9) and recovered 1 point after China scored 10-10-7-9-10-10. Mexico reduced the gap in the third end, scoring 7-8-10-9-9-9 to China’s 7-8-8-9-10-7. The scores were 160-158 before the last end. Mexico shot first for a total of 54, leaving the door open for the Chinese who did 10-8-8-10-9-8 to win the bronze by just 1 point, 213-212.

Crispin: China started very strong and had a few mistakes in the third end, with 4 arrows out of the gold. Both teams had a bad end, probably because of the weather and pressure, but China came out on top with a 1-point win over Mexico. Both teams looked like they fought really hard and had some mistakes but China had less costly mistakes.

Gold Medal – Belarus vs Ukraine

Belarus had easily defeated the Ukraine in the 1/8 elimination round in Ulsan. Here in Porec the Ukraine had a disastrous start at 5-6-9-5-8-9 to trail 42-52. It seemed the wind was really affecting the archers. The Belarusians suffered more in the second end, shooting far from their regular level at 7-4-4-6-7-8. The Ukrainian archers shot 10-7-9-10-6-6. After trailing by 10 points, they came from behind to lead by 2 points! Both teams became more comfortable shooting in the next end. Belarus shot 8-10-x10-9-8-7 and Ukraine 6-10-8-9-x10-8. The match was still very open with the Ukraine leading 141-140. The rain stopped as archers entered the last end. Belarus shot first and with 9-10-9-9-10-10 put the pressure on the Ukrainians, who didn’t want to let the medal go! They shot 9-8-9-10-9-10 to tie at 197-197. The Ukrainians shot 10-9-10, and an 8 from the first Bielorusian archer gave them the gold.

Crispin: I think a combination of cold weather and wet finger tabs contributed to the archers not shooting as well as they should. You don’t usually see archers shooting arrows in the 4 ring which shows a combination of problems. Ukraine’s worst arrows were in the blue and Belarus had two 4s but still tied. Ukraine showed their power in the shoot-off.

Compound Men Team

Bronze Medal – Netherlands vs El Salvador

Salvadorians Rigoberto HERNANDEZ, Roberto HERNANDEZ and Jorge JIMENEZ have won bronze together at the Ulsan World Championships, however the Netherlands have the world record holder of the FITA Round Peter ELZINGA, and they have won the two previous encounters between these two countries: at the Porec World Cup in 2008 and in Antalya in 2006.

El Salvador had the better start (X10-9-8-10-10-9 vs 10-8-8-8-9-9) to lead the Netherlands 56-52. Rain began to increase as archers started their second end. Both teams shot equal arrows (El Salvador X10-9-9-9-10-10, Netherlands 10-9-9-10-10-9), and so the Dutch archers still trailed by 4 points, 109-113. They managed very good scores in the third end given the heavy rain: 10-x10-10-10-9-9. The Salvadorians scored 10-10-9-8-8-9, resulting in a tie 167-167. The Netherlands shot first, 10-10-9-10, then suffered an 8. With only 5 seconds to shoot Van ZUTPHEN managed an x10. The Salvadorians answered with 10-10-10-10-9-x10 to win the bronze!

Crispin: The conditions were very tough with the rain, which was always changing. EL Salvador shot very strong, as did the Netherlands, but an 8 in the last end cost them the win.

Gold Medal - Denmark vs USA

The current world team champion USA (COUSINS, GELLENTHIEN, WILDE) are the favourite in this final. However the first end was Denmark’s: X10-9-x10-9-10-x10 to 9-9-9-x10-10-10, 58-57. The scores of the second end were equivalent (three 9s and three 10s for both teams), and so Denmark was still leading by 1 point, 115-114. The Americans shot 9-10-9-10-10-9 and they benefited from an 8 from their Danish opponents to come back and tie at 171-171 before the last end.

The Americans concluded with 9-10-x10-9-10-10, putting the pressure on Denmark, who did 10-9-10-10-9-x10 to tie. The USA were perfect in the shoot-off, scoring x10-x10-10! A first arrow in the 9 ring for Denmark gave the gold to the USA.

Crispin: Strong shooting from both teams led to their tie. COUSINS from the USA was having problems shooting 10s, so they switched their order halfway through. DAMSBO and WILDE shot very well with both only shooting one arrow outside the 10 ring. Congratulations to both teams.

Compound Women Team

Bronze Medal – Mexico vs Netherlands

Mexico started their first encounter with the Netherlands in perfect fashion: 10-10-10 against 8-x10-9 (30-27). The end went on with 9-7-9 for the Dutch team and 9-10-9 for Mexico. Mexico has a comfortable lead, 58-52. The Netherlands had a much stronger second end. Their scores of 9-9-10-10-9-10 allowed them to recover one point from the Mexicans, who shot 9-10-9-9-9-10. Mexico led 114-109 halfway. Both teams were weaker in the third end with scores of x10-8-9-9-8-8 for the Netherlands and 8-9-9-9-9-9 for Mexico. The match concluded with 9-8-9-10-10-10 (NED) and 9-x10-9-9-9-9 (MEX). Ana DEL MILAGRO CRISANTO, Felisa DE LA CONCHA and Linda OCHOA have won the bronze medal.

Crispin: Overall Mexico had better groups than the Netherlands which were more centered. This gave them the advantage over the Dutch archers leading them to the win.

Gold Medal – Russia vs USA

These teams have met seven times since 2006, with Russia winning five times. Today both teams comprise two athletes who were on the world team in Ulsan, where Russia had defeated the USA in semifinals. Russia went on to win the gold, while the US had the bronze.

Americans Erika ANSCHUTZ, Jamie VAN NATTA and Diane WATSON took the better start at 9-8-10-10-9-x10. Russia scored 9-9-10-9-9-9 to trail 55-56. The USA had a disaster in the second end when Jamie VAN NATTA’s arrow missed the target and landed in the scoreboard (!) probably due to a problem with the release aid. Their scores of 9-9-9-0-10-9 allowed the Russians to come back and lead 112-102. The USA lost even more ground in the third end (9-8-10-9-9-x10 to Russia’s X10-9-10-9-10-10). This must have released the pressure on Russia. Albina LOGINOVA, Viktoria BALZHANOVA and Anna ARTEMOVA scored 9-9-10-10-10-9 to clinch the gold, 227-213!

Crispin: Besides the miss by the USA, they shot very well despite the changing conditions. Russia maintained their consistency and increased their record of wins against the USA.

Recurve Mixed Team

Gold Medal – USA vs China

The 2008 US Olympians Brady ELLISON and Jennifer NICHOLS had the best start (9-9-10-7) over their Chinese opponents CHENG Ming and XING Yu (8-8-8-9). The US led 35-33 and increased their lead to 71-67 after a bad 7 from China in the second end. The USA won the gold medal 141-139. The bronze went to Italy.

Crispin: China had four arrows outside the gold which is why the US was in the lead halfway through even with Brady’s 7. Both teams looked very strong, but China was unlucky with more arrows out of the gold. Both NICHOLS and ELLISON stuck to their strong shooting like they usually have both in practice and in tournaments and although they had four arrows out of the gold they still won the match.

Compound Mixed Team

Gold Medal – Denmark vs Canada

The Danish pair (Martin DAMSBO-Camilla SOEMOD) has won the Mixed Team exhibition at the 2009 World Cup Final. Camilla SOEMOD is in great shape, having placed 4th at the World Championships and 2nd at the World Cup Final in 2009. However Canada has Ashley WALLACE and Dietmar TRILLUS, the 2007 world champion.

The Canadian led 38-37 after the first end, and a bad 6 from SOEMOD in the second end further increased the gap (76-72). Canada had a perfect end of 40 to lead 116-109 and win the gold 154-147. The American pair Jamie VAN NATTA-Reo WILDE won eon the bronze.

Crispin: The Canadians had tighter groups than the Danish archers, shooting three more 10s than the Danish archers. The 6 and 8 did not help the Danish archers on their quest for gold medals.

Vanahé ANTILLE
World Archery Communication