South Africa wins first gold, China takes double gold in team finals

 Recurve Men Team   Bronze Medal – Japan vs Ukraine Ukraine had defeated Japan in quarterfinals at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, before losing the bronze medal to China. But Japan took revenge at the 2009 Worlds by eliminating the Ukraine in the 1/8 elimination round on their way to the bronze medal. With these two teams having a great revelry with each other would mean we were in for a classic rematch in Antalya   Japan (Ryota AMANO, Takaharu FURUKAWA, Shungo TABATA) had the better start (9-8-9-9-10-9 to 7-7-9-9-9-8) to lead 54-49. They were steady in the next end to gain one more point and lead 109-102. Ukraine had a solid third end (9-x10-9-8-9-10) but still trailed by the same margin, 157-164. Japan shot superbly in the last end (x10-x10-10-10-7-x10) to take the bronze medal, 221-213.   Today we had recurve archers Crispin DUENAS and Alison WILLIAMSON give us their commentaries, as well as France’s compound coach Benoît PINON.   Crispin DUENAS: Besides the first end from Ukraine, both teams fought really well. In the last two ends both teams scored 55 and 57, which showed how much each team wanted this medal.   Gold Medal – India vs USA The team from India (Rahul BANERJEE, Mangal Singh CHAMPIA, Jayanta TALUKDAR) made it to their second consecutive World Cup team final, previously losing to Italy in Porec, were to meet team USA. India have already met the USA 5 times previously in World Cup competition winning on all five occasions. This made Americans Brady ELLISON, Richard JOHNSON and Victor WUNDERLE very hungry for revenge.   A bad start, a 6, by Vic WUNDERLE caused the USA to trail India 50-54. The Americans recovered closing the deficit in the next end (10-x10-9-9-8-8 to India’s 8-9-9-8-8-9). India was now leading by just a point, 105-104. A third end of 57 (9-9-10-10-x10-9) allowed the Indian archers to increase their lead to 162-157. The USA responded with an end of 57 (9-10-x10-10-9-9), but it was not enough to beat India. BANERJEE, CHAMPIA and TALUKDAR who secured the gold medal with 10-x10-9-9-8-x10, final score 218-214.   Crispin DUENAS: The USA’s 6 was very unfortunate, and the large number of 8s from the US impeded them from getting the gold medal. India shot very strong and very consistently to solidify their win over the USA. Congratulations India!  Recurve Women Team   Bronze Medal – USA vs Georgia It is a surprise to find the No. 11 seeds Georgia at this stage of the competition! The team of Asmat DIASAMIDZE, Kristine ESEBUA, Khatuna NARIMANIDZE had upset India, the No. 3 seeds, in the quarterfinals. Georgia has met the USA once before in a bronze medal final at the Good Luck Beijing competition in 2007 were the USA won 211-210. Now a fully American citizen, Khatuna LORIG, will be shooting against her country of origin. Khatuna competed for Georgia at the 2000 Olympics, before representing the US at Beijing 2008.   Both teams were affected by the strong winds coming from the beach. The scores of the first end were 9-8-8-10-5-9 for the USA and 6-7-6-9-9-8 for Georgia. USA led 49-45. Georgia raised their level in the second end with 9-7-9-8-7-9 (49) but the USA maintained their lead at 10-10-x10-8-6-9 (53) to lead 103-94. Georgia made a great come-back in the third end (8-10-8-9-9-9 to 7-8-6-8-6-9) to tie the USA 147-147. In doing so Georgia made up 9 points in just one end! They concluded with 8-8-9-10-7-9, not enough to beat the USA who scored 9-10-10-10-6-10. Heather KOEHL, Khatuna LORIG, Jennifer NICHOLS take the bronze medal, 202-198.   Crispin DUENAS: Jenny NICHOLS definitely had the highest scores on the field. Most of the teams arrow groups were to the left of the target and as the wind were really strong. From my experiences in shooting in the wind, if you keep your form, they all go in the middle, no matter how strong the wind is. Even though the USA struggled in the third end, they still shot very strong in the final end to take the bronze medal. Georgia had a really good third end to tie the score and keep things interesting.   Gold Medal – China vs Russia The No. 1 seed China (CHENG Ming, GUO Faping and ZHU Shanshan) won the bronze final in Porec last month, while Russia had the advantage of having two individual semi-finalists, Ksenia PEROVA and Inna STEPANOVA in their team. In recent years Russia has won the three previous encounters between these two teams.   Here in Antalya, Russia shot first and was probably bothered by the wind (8-6-9-9-8-4) to trail China 44-50. However, the Russians had a strong second end at 9-9-8-x10-9-8, but China were just as good with 9-8-8-10-8-10. China led 103-97 halfway through and slowly began gaining more points (10-8-8-8-10-10 to 9-7-7-10-8-9) and clinched the gold medal (x10-10-8-9-10-9 to 10-8-9-9-10-7), 213-200.   Crispin DUENAS: The third shooter from Russia was affected by the wind (PEROVA) because most of her arrows were pushed to the left, showing she hasn’t adjusted for the wind. China was more consistent and better at handling the wind.  Compound Men Team   Bronze Medal –Great Britain vs Netherlands It’s a new chance for a medal for the No. 2 seed Netherlands (Peter ELZINGA, Rob POLMAN, Marc REMIE), who lost the bronze medal final to El Salvador last month in Porec.   Here in Antalya both teams started with one hit for a tie (1-1) and then two hits (2-2). In the third set Great Britain took two set points (2 hits to 1). The score of the fourth set was the exact opposite, meaning the two teams tied 4-4 after four sets. Great Britain easily won the fifth set three hits to one and were now leading 6-4. The Netherlands shot two hits in the last set, but the team from Great Britain clinched the bronze medal with a perfect set!   Benoît BINON: Even though the men are shooting closest to the centre than the women, they too are struggling to hit consistently. The Britons were the only team able to hit all their arrows in consecutive sets, while the leader of the Dutch team, Peter ELZINGA, who was shooting last in the team order, had difficulty shooting at his usual level today.   Gold Medal – USA vs South Africa The current world team champion USA is favourit to win this match. The USA had beaten South African at the 2009 Ulsan World Championships 235-225.   USA (Ben CLELAND, Braden GELLENTHIEN and Rodger WILLET Jr.) took the lead from the start 2-0 (2-1). Both teams shot two hits in the second set. Meaning, the USA were still leading, 3-1. South Africa shot a perfect third end, while the USA had more trouble with the wind and managed only one hit, allowing South Africa to come back 3-3. The South African archers stayed in the yellow in the next set, but this time their performance was watched by the Americans. South Africa was perfect again in the fifth set (for a total of nine hits in a row!) to win two more set points and lead 6-4. Both teams shot only one hit in the sixth set, which meant victory 7-5 for the South Africans. It’s the first ever gold medal at this level for this team! Congratulations to Nico BENADE, Seppie CILLIERS and Riaan CROWTHER!   Benoît PINON: Even if the rules and competition format change for compound, the Americans are always in the final.   The match really became more intense in the third set with three hits from the South Africans, in which the Americans answered with three hits in the next set. What’s more, these teams are shooting in quite difficult windy conditions. South Africa handled this final really well, and by shooting three perfect sets in a row, they put the pressure on the Americans coming into the sixth set and won their first final. They managed to handle the pressure of this big event and be more accurate in their shooting than their American counterparts.  Compound Women Team   Bronze Medal – USA vs Mexico Mexico has another shot at a medal after their bronze from Porec, where the USA previously won silver. These neighbours met at the bronze medal final at the 2009 World Championships, USA winning 223-208. These teams met more recently in the gold medal final at the Arizona Cup. On that occasion the USA needed a shoot-off to win.   Windy conditions made it difficult for the archers to hit. Both teams had only one hit in first set for a tie at 1-1. Mexico clinched the second set with 3 hits (to USAs 1). The intermediate score was 3-1. With one hit on each side, the score moved to 4-2 after the third set. The USA finally managed two hits in the next set, soon matched by the Mexicans. The USA were luckier in the fifth set: as they shot an arrow on the line of the hitting zone to win the 2 set points to cause a tie situation at 5-5. The team that wins the next set, wins the match. The Americans shot, first but their three arrows landed in the red, opening the door for Mexico. Mexico’s first archer shot just out of the yellow, the second archer missed, but Linda OCHOA didn’t let the pressure get to her and shot a hit for the bronze medal.   Benoît PINON: Because of the wind, the difference will be in the number of hits rather than misses. The Americans were struggling in the beginning: they didn’t hit more than one shot per set, which released the pressure on the Mexicans. With this new system it is difficult for the archer to find a set up. Overall, in the match, Linda OCHOA made the difference. She hit far more arrows than any other competitor. She’s the one who allowed Mexico to win the bronze, as she demonstrated that with her last hit.   Gold Medal – Iran vs Russia Russia is the current world team champions, and the team present here (Anna ARTEMOVA, Viktoria BALZHANOVA and Albina LOGINOVA) won the gold medal last month in Porec. Their opponent, No. 4 seed, Iran (Ensieh HAJIANZEHALI, Seyedeh-Vida, HALIMIANAVVAL, Parsamehr MAHTAB) defeated the No. 1 seeds USA earlier this week to advance to the final.   This match also started with a draw at 1-1 (two hits each). Iran then lost two set points to Russia after shooting three arrows in the red ring. Russian spectators went wild as Russia led 3-1. The score moved to 4-2 after both teams scored just 1 hit in the third set. Russia won the fourth set, thanks to two hits, (and three misses by the Iranian). Iran shot one hit in the fifth set. Russia responded with one hit and one miss. A hit by Albina LOGINOVA gave the gold medal to Russia!   Benoît PINON: Iran already surprised us in the past, although we didn’t see them much on the World Cup circuit last year. Thanks to their determination, the Iranians were able to compete with the Russians today, who are without doubt the best compound women’s team currently. The Russians’ big amount of experience probably helped them handle this match really well, while the Iranian archers shot a lot of misses. Once more, the Russians dominated the game from the beginning to the end and showed that there are out there no matter who is on their team.  Recurve Mixed Team   Gold Medal – USA vs China This is a repeat of the final in Porec, where the combination of Brady ELLISON/Jennifer NICHOLS had won gold over CHENG Ming/XING Yu.   In Antalya, the Americans took a one-point advantage in the first end (10-9-9-9 to 8-9-10-9). The USA led 37-36, but NICHOLS suffered two 8s in the next end to give the lead to China, 74-71. The American, pair lost two more points in the third end (9-9-8-10 to 10-8-10-10), and couldn’t nail the 10 ring in the last end (9-9-8-9). With four 9s and a total score of 148-142, China won the gold in this category! Yesterday, the French duo of  (Berengere SCHUH/Romain GIROUILLE) had won the bronze.   Alison WILLIAMSON: Consistently strong shooting from the Chinese. China only had two arrows outside of the yellow. CHENG shot four 10s and XING shot two, which is four 10s more than the Americans. That’s how they won the match.   Compound Mixed Team   Gold Medal – Mexico vs Denmark Mexico had a perfect start with 4 hits to lead Denmark 2-0. However, Mexico were not as solid in the second set, but still managed to win 2 hits to 1. In the third set, Denmark shot three hits that were then matched by the Mexicans. Each team took one set point, moving the score to 5-1. It’s the gold medal for Mexico’s Linda OCHOA and Julio Ricardo FIERRO! Camilla SOEMOD and Martin DAMSBO settle for silver again after their second place last month in Porec. The bronze medal went to the USA (Erika ANSCHUTZ/Duane PRICE).   Benoît PINON: The Mexicans had a perfect start. They benefited from Linda OCHOA’s experience, just minutes after Linda won the Compound Women bronze medal final on this field. The Mexicans comforted their lead after the second set. Despite her experience, Camilla SOEMOD was having trouble shooting in the hit zone. In this match the difference was in the women’s scores, since both men had the same number of hits. Once again, Linda OCHOA’s accurate and efficient shooting allowed Mexico to win this medal. To conclude, I would like to say that in the windy conditions of today, no compound team was able to hit more than 75%, and the archers will probably need some more time to set up their equipment and adapt to this new type of competition in order to increase their scores.   Vanahé ANTILLE World Archery Communication