First gold for JING, KOVAL, DAMSBO and ANSCHUTZ

  The archers had the honour of shooting in front of many influential sport dignitaries including five IOC members (photo). Attending the event were Dr Thomas BACH (GER), Vice President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and President of the German Olympic Committee, Mr Sergey BUBKA (UKR), Senior Vice President of IAAF, President of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee and IOC Member, Dr WU Ching-Kuo (TPE), President of AIBA and IOC Member, Prof CHANG Ung (PRK), IOC Member, and Prof Dr Ugur ERDENER (TUR), President of FITA and IOC Member. Mr Masato MIZUNO, Chairman of Mizuno Inc. was also in attendance.   Recurve Men   Bronze Medal – Brady ELLISON (USA) vs Shungo TABATA (JPN) The winner of the World Cup stage 1 in Porec Brady ELLISON looked very disappointed after losing the semifinal in a shoot-off. This afternoon he shot 9-x10-9 to win the first set over the No. 14 Shungo TABATA, who shot 10-9-8. Both archers shot three times the same score in the second set: three 10s for Braden and three 9s for Shungo. The American led 4-0, but suffered a bad 8 in the third set, which he lost 27-28. Brady quickly recovered from that mistake and threw out a perfect 30 to win the bronze 6-2. This victory allowed him to shoot more 10s, which meant two things for ELLISON. He solidified his lead in the ranking for the Longines Prize for Precision, and with his podium finish he raised more money in his campaign “Shoot for the Cure” to help fight breast cancer.   Today the recurve archers Alison WILLIAMSON and Crispin DUENAS, as well as the coach of the French compound team Benoît BINON gave us their commentaries.   Crispin DUENAS: Brady ELLISON was definitely very solid during the whole match. Once he found the 10 ring he didn’t let up and shot five more 10s than his competitor.   Gold Medal – Michele FRANGILLI (ITA) vs JING Xianqing (CHN) The 2003 World Champion FRANGILLI started this final with 9-10-9, while his opponent, seeded No. 15, shot 9-10-8. The Italian led 2-0, but weak scores in the second set (8-x10-8) allowed JING  (photo) to come back with 9-9-10 to tie 2-2. The Chinese archer then shot x10-x10-8 to beat FRANGILLI’s 8-9-9 and lead 4-2. The Italian shot x10-9-9 in the last set, and JING started with 9 and x10, meaning he needed a 10 to win. And he did, to win his first gold medal at this level.   Alison WILLIAMSON: FRANGILLI didn’t look very impressed with his result during the second and third sets, and Mr. JING remained calm during the final set knowing that a 10 would win the match for him and shot a solid x10.     Recurve Women   Bronze Medal – Dola BANERJEE (IND) vs Ksenia PEROVA (RUS) It was the first match between the No. 20 BANERJEE and the 21-year-old PEROVA, winner of the team silver earlier this week. PEROVA had the experience of several World Cup events, but it was her first shot at an individual medal in World Cup competition.   Both archers entered the match with a total of 29 for a tie 1-1. Ksenia PEROVA won the next two sets 28-27 to lead 5-1. In the final set, Dola BANERJEE shot 9-9-8, to which Ksenia PEROVA answered with 9-10-10. PEROVA had no arrows outside of the gold to win the bronze medal 7-1.   Crispin DUENAS: They both started out very strongly with 29, but PEROVA was definitely more consistent with higher scores throughout the match.   Gold Medal – Victoriya KOVAL (UKR) vs Inna STEPANOVA (RUS) The No. 16 KOVAL and the 20-year-old STEPANOVA met two weeks ago in Rovereto in the 1/8 elimination round, where STEPANOVA had won 4-0 on her way to the silver medal. After her team silver yesterday, she was hoping for gold this time! However she shot only 9-9-8 in the first set, while KOVAL shot 9-10-9. The Ukrainian led 2-0. STEPANOVA reacted strongly in the second set with a perfect 30 to tie at 2-2. She then scored 10-9-9 (against 8-9-9 to KOVAL) to take the lead 4-2. KOVAL showed how much she wanted to win by shooting 9-9-10 (8-9-9 for STEPANOVA) to tie at 4-4 before the last set. The Russian archer concluded with 8-9-7. Victoriya KOVAL easily took the set with 9-x10-8 and won the gold medal to the delight of Sergey BUBKA, former pole vault Olympic Champion, President of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee and IOC member who was on site as a spectator. Victoriya couldn’t have hoped for a better present for her 25th birthday!   Crispin DUENAS: Both girls shot really well. STEPANOVA definitely was the more consistent shooter, however she faltered at some crucial moment which gave KOVAL the advantage. STEPANOVA’s final set of 24 was easily defeated by KOVAL’s 27 to take the match.     Compound Men   Bronze Medal – Vladas SIGAUSKAS (LTU) vs Rodger WILLET Jr. (USA) It is the first match between the experienced SIGAUSKAS, who just missed a medal in Rovereto (4th), and Rodger WILLET Jr. The American, who was team world champion in 2007, is making his first appearance on the World Cup this season.   Today Rodger WILLET Jr. was perfect in his first two sets with six hits. Meanwhile SIGAUSKAS had to wait until the third arrow to find the gold, where he stayed through the end of the second set. The American led 3-1. He shot another perfect set to increase his lead to 5-1. SIGAUSKAS went to congratulate his opponent, thinking the match was over, but it was not. The archer from Lithuania reacted with a perfect set of his own, before WILLET finally shot in the red in his 12th (!) arrow. The score was 5-3 for the American. SIGAUSKAS shot another perfect score in the fifth set (against WILLET’s two hits) to tie the match 5-5! WILLET shot two hits in the last set, but SIGAUSKAS didn’t falter under pressure: he hit three more shots to take the bronze medal!   Benoît BINON: Who could have predicted such an unbelievable turnaround? By shooting 11 hits in a row, the brave SIGAUSKAS was able to reduce the confidence of the American, who had himself shot 11 hits in the beginning of the match.   Gold Medal – Martin DAMSBO (DEN) vs Braden GELLENTHIEN (USA) These athletes know each other well, having competed in the junior ranks together. The 25-year-old Martin DAMSBO  (photo) has a lot of experience on the World Cup circuit: he was 4th in Porec and 5th last year in Antalya. His major achievement came at the 2007 Worlds, where he placed 3rd. DAMSBO recently placed 7th at the European Championships in Rovereto. The 24-year-old GELLENTHIEN also has a lot of experience. The 2003 World Silver medallist is also a multiple World Cup event winner (2009 World Cup stage 1 in Santo Domingo, 2007 Stage 2 in Varese). He was also Indoor World Champion in 2007 in Izmir, and in 2007 placed at both the Outdoor World Championships and the World Cup Final. After his second place finish in Antalya in 2009, Braden clearly wanted to win this time. In semifinals he had the best match of the competition with 11 hits out of a possible 12.   GELLENTHIEN was hoping to perform better than last year, where he had lost the gold medal final. However he had only one hit in the first set and two in the second. Meanwhile Martin DAMSBO had a perfect start with six hits to lead 4-0. The third set ended in a draw (1-1) and so did the fourth (3-3), moving the score to 5-1 and 6-2 for DAMSBO. The Danish archer looked nervous in the fifth set, hitting only one arrow. GELLENTHIEN shot twice in the gold to recover two set points and trail 4-6. In the final set, the American managed three hits, putting the pressure on his opponent. Despite his nervousness, evidenced by ever increasing holding times, DAMSBO gave the perfect answer with three hits to win 7-5. It’s the first gold in a major international competition for the Danish archer!   Benoît BINON: This first major victory is a fair reward for Martin DAMSBO, who has been regularly among the best. There was a lot of stress in this match, as we saw in the big mistakes by Braden GELLENTHIEN. It’s the third time he has lost a final in Antalya, but he showed that he is on the right track to qualify for the World Cup Final in Edinburgh.   Compound Women   Bronze Medal – Anne LANTEE (FIN)vs Ashley WALLACE (CAN) Anne LANTEE (the former Anne LAURILA) wanted to improve from her 4th place at last year’s World Cup stage 2. She was in great form, having placed 6th in May at the European Championships. However Ashley WALLACE, who was 5th in Ulsan and won the World Cup stage 1 last month, won the first set with only one hit in her last set. With three hits to one in the next set, she increased her lead to 4-0. The archer from Finland reacted with two arrows in the gold to gain back two points, 2-4. WALLACE was perfect in the fourth set to take back a four-point lead, 6-2. A tie in the last set would win the match for the Canadian, and that’s what happened. Both archers shot one hit, victory 7-3 and bronze medal for Ashley WALLACE!   Benoît BINON: During the whole match Anne LANTEE seemed to have a lot of trouble finding stability. So she had very few arrows in the hit zone. Meanwhile Ashley WALLACE’s arrows were all much closer (grouped in a diameter equivalent to 16 cm), which allowed her to have a good percentage of hits and to win the bronze medal.   Gold Medal – Erika ANSCHUTZ (USA) vs Nicky HUNT (GBR) A former Junior World Champion, Erika ANSCHUTZ  (photo) defeated the World Champion Albina LOGINOVA and the European Champion Viktoria BALZHANOVA from Russia to advance to the semifinal. As for Nicky HUNT, she was 4th at the World Cup Final in Copenhagen and recently placed 7th at the European Championships in Rovereto. She had won in Porec in 2009 and placed 2nd at the first World Cup event this year.   In this final ANSCHUTZ hit only her first arrow in the first set, while HUNT shot her last two in the gold to take the lead 2-0. But ANSCHUTZ came back with three hits in the second set to tie at 2-2. The score then moved to 3-3 after both archers shot one hit each. The American hit two of her next three shots to take a serious advantage over her opponent, 5-3. Both archers started their fifth set with two hits. Then HUNT missed her last shot, and Erika ANSCHUTZ shot a hit just on the line for the victory. It’s the first medal for the young American at this level!   Benoît BINON: Both archers had a bad end to the last World Cup event with a defeat in a final (ANSCHUTZ in the final for bronze and HUNT in the final for gold). Of the two, Erika ANSCHUTZ seemed to have managed better the final and was much more aggressive than her opponent, who showed some signs of loss of focus. Overall in the compound session this afternoon the good weather conditions allowed for very tight and very interesting matches on the men’s side, and showed that on the women’s side the hit zone is maybe a little too small to allow for the same level of intensity.   The World Cup stage 2 has come to an end. See you in Ogden for the stage 3!   Vanahé ANTILLE World Archery Communication