Six more countries qualify for the Olympic Games

Six more countries qualify for the Olympic Games Tehran (IRI) – 24 October 2011   The Asian Olympic qualifications tournament took place today in Tehran (IRI). The Islamic Republic of Iran, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mongolia and Malaysia won a spot for the London 2012 Olympic Games.   There were three individual spots per gender allocated at this Asian Continental Qualifying Tournament. Only the countries who had not won a place at the last world championships (in the particular gender) and who participated in the Asian Championships in Tehran could take part in this special tournament. The countries could only win a maximum of one place per gender.   Only recurve archers participate in the Olympic Games. They shoot matches with five sets of three arrows. Two set points are won in each set; hence the first athlete to 6 set points wins the match.   Recurve Men There were 32 athletes competing in this category. Milad VAZIRI (IRI) won this tournament. He defeated teammate Keyva RIYAZIMEHR 6-4 in the semifinal and Witthaya THAMWONG (THA) 6-2 in the final.   THAMWONG survived a shoot-off in his quarterfinal against Rahmat SULISTIAWAN (INA). After the five sets, each archer had 5 points. They both shot a 9 in the shoot-off but THAMWONG was the closest to the centre. He then defeated LEE Kar Wai Calvin (HKG) in the semifinal 6-2.   RIYAZIMEHR defeated LEE 6-0 in the third-place match. However, since VAZIRI already won the spot for Iran, LEE earned the quota for Hong Kong. The quota belongs to the National Olympic Committee, not the individual.   Iran, Thailand and Hong Kong have therefore won a place for the archery men’s competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games.   Recurve Women A total of 31 women competed in this category. The No. 1 seed Bishindee URANTUNGALAG (MGL) and the No. 11 seed Ika Yuliana ROCHMAWATI (INA) dominated the event and met in the final. ROCHMAWATI won it 6-5 but both athletes earned a place for their country.   The last quota was played between the losers of the semifinals; the No. 2 seed Nurul Syafiiqah HASHIM from Malaysia and the No. 5 seed Sareh ASADI for the host Iran. HASHIM won the match 7-3 bringing a women place to Malaysia (the men already qualified a full team at the world championships)!   Indonesia, Mongolia and Malaysia have therefore won a place for the archery women’s competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games.   The athletes who missed their chance today will have a final opportunity at the Olympic world qualifier in Ogden (USA) in June 2012.   World Archery Communication
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