Five countries win gold in the team finals

  The finals took place in a special setting of the Yuan Chen Stadium. The teams shot 4 ends of 6 arrows (best total score wins) and the mixed teams 4 ends of 4 arrows.   Recurve Men Team   Bronze Medal – Korea vs China The final featured two teams that know each other well: at the Beijing Olympics, Korea defeated China 221-218 in semifinals. Korea went on to win the gold medal, and China the bronze. China took their revenge last month in Ogden, where they upset Korea 221-220 in semifinals. In this match, Korea seemed bothered by the pressure in the first end and scored only 52 (9-8-9-9-8-9). China shot 9-10-8-x10-8-9 to lead 54-52. Korea reacted immediately with a good X10-10-9-10-10-8 and benefited from a not-so-good end by the Chinese (9-10-8-x10-8-9). After trailing in the first end, Korea now led 109-108. They won the third set 56-55. Korea really made the difference in the final set, shooting 9-10-10-x10-10-9 (58) against 9-8-9-7-10-10 to China. IM Dong-Hyun, KIM Woojin and OH Jin Hyek scored 223-216 to win the bronze medal.   Today the 1992 Olympic Champion Sebastien FLUTE (FRA) and the 2008 Olympian Crispin DUENAS (CAN) gave us their live commentaries.   Crispin DUENAS: It was a very tight match in the beginning. Both teams struggled to get on their feet. However Korea was less affected by the wind whereas the Chinese started shooting arrows in the red off to the left. Korea held gold and that’s how they won.   Gold Medal – Japan vs India India had another opportunity to win gold after their victory at the Antalya World Cup this year, where Japan finished 3rd. In Antalya, India had defeated Japan in the semifinals (216-213). Here in Shanghai, India shot a beautiful first end (10-9-x10-9-9-10) to lead Japan 57-54. The same pattern continued in the second end. The Japanese shot 9-8-x10-9-10-8, which allowed India to increase their lead with 9-10-x10-9-9-9. Intermediate score: 113-108. Japan was better in the third end (56-55) and both teams finished with 56 points in their last arrows. India won 224-220 for another gold medal.   Sebastien FLUTE: The archers from India took the lead from the start and kept it throughout the match. Japan had a nice second half (56-56) but India were already too far ahead.   Recurve Women Team   Bronze Medal – Chinese Taipei vs Georgia Both teams shot the same total in the first end (Chinese Taipei 10-8-10-7-8-9, Georgia 9-8-8-10-9-8) to tie at 52-52. Georgia was having a rough time and an unusually low performance in the second end: 7-7-9-8-8-8 (total 47). Chinese Taipei scored a good 10-9-9-10-x10-8 to take a 9-point lead, 108-99. Both teams shot well in the third end (Chinese Taipei 9-10-x10-9-9-9, Georgia 10-9-9-9-9-x10). The score moved to 164-155. Chinese Taipei won the last end 54-51 and clinched the bronze medal before the last arrow was shot (218-106).   Sebastien FLUTE: The archers from Georgia paid the price for their bad second end at 47 points. After that it was almost impossible to come back, since they were trailing by 9 points. This kind of situation always releases the pressure on the opponents. I was surprised to see all three archers from Georgia shoot bad arrows. When none of the three shoots well, it is hard to gain back confidence, especially when the opponents stay focused and go on shooting good scores.   Gold Medal – Korea vs China The Korean team won in Ogden this year, whereas China was 3rd in Porec and Ogden, and 1st in Antalya. In this gold medal match, China lost an opportunity to take the lead in the first end after Korea scored 8-9-9-9-x10-9 (54). China shot 9-10-9-9-8-9 for a tie at 54-54. The Koreans recovered their confidence in the second end, shooting 10-9-10-x10-x10-9 to take a 3-point lead over China, 112-109. The Koreans shot another end at 58 points, while China had 9-7-10-10-9-10. Korea led 170-164. The wind started coming across the field in the last end, causing both teams to score relatively low. China shot 10-9-9-8-9-8, and Korea 7-7-10-10-8-10. JOO Hyun-Jung, Ki Bo Bae and YUN Ok-Hee took the gold medal!   Sebastien FLUTE: China let the opportunity to take the lead over Korea go in the first end. It is rare to see Korea start a match with a total of 54 in the first end. The Korean archers really pulled themselves together in the second end. China didn’t shoot badly at 55, but the 58 points from Korea were hard to match. It’s difficult to follow Korea when they shoot at this level.   Compound Men Team   Bronze Medal – USA vs Iran The US team won in Porec and Ogden and came 2nd in Antalya. They were the favourites against Iran, who have never medaled at this level. The scores of the first end were the same for both teams (USA X10-x10-9-9-10-10, Iran x10-10-x10-10-9-9). In the second end, Iran shot X10-10-8-x10-9-9, an 8 that allowed the USA to take a 2-point lead with 10-9-9-x10-9-10. The score moved to 175-173 after both teams shot 59 points in the third end. The last end started with 29 points from both teams. Iran then shot 9-9-9. The USA answered with x10-10-9. Final score, 233-229, the USA took the bronze medal.   Sebastien FLUTE: The second end and especially the 8 shot by Iran allowed the USA to take a 2-point lead. Both teams shot similar scores in the third end, and in the fourth Iran lost all hope for the medal when they shot four 9s in a row.   Gold Medal – Australia vs Great Britain It was the first shot at a gold medal for both teams this year. The team from Australia was 4th in Ogden, while Great Britain was 3rd in Antalya. Today, the scores of the first end were 9-10-9-x10-9-x10 for Australia, while Great Britain shot 10-x10-9-10-9-x10. The Britons led 58-57, but Australia came back at 116-115 after the next six arrows. In the third end, they shot X10-10-8-x10-9-10, and the Britons 9-10-10-9-9-10. With their totals of 57-57, the score moved to 173-172 for Australia. Great Britain shot 59 points in the final end, but Australia ended their hopes by concluding the match with a perfect score of 60. Gold medal for Patrick COGHLAN, Clint FREEMAN and Robert TIMMS!   Crispin DUENAS: Both teams were shooting very strongly but some arrows were just unlucky and only scored 9s.   Compound Women Team   Bronze Medal – Iran vs Great Britain These teams had met in quarterfinals at the Antalya World Cup, won by Great Britain 6-2. Here in Shanghai, the British archers took the lead in the first end 56-55. In the second, Iran shot 10-10-7-10-10-9 and their opponents 54. Iran took the lead 111-110. Great Britain reacted with an almost perfect third end: 59 points out of 60! Their opponents shot 10-8-10-x10-9-9 for a total of 56. This allowed the team from Great Britain to take the lead 169-167 with six arrows to go. They shot 10-10-9-10-x10-9 against Iran’s 9-9-9-10-9-9 to win the match and the bronze medal 227-222.   Crispin DUENAS: Nichola SIMPSON (GBR) only dropped 2 points. The Iranian team started to lose their form midway through and that’s why Great Britain took the lead and stayed with it.   Gold Medal – USA vs Russia Since 2006, Russia has defeated the USA six times and lost twice. The last encounter between these teams was in Porec. In the gold medal final, Russia won 227-213. The Russian team went on to win the team competition in Antalya. As for the US team, after their 2nd place from Porec, they placed 4th in Antalya and won the Stage 3 on home soil in Ogden.   In this match, the Americans had the better start, X10-9-10-9-10-9 (57) to 8-9-10-9-9-10 (55). They increased their lead to 3 points (114 to 111) at the halfway mark. The scores were 10-x10-9-9-10-9 to 9-9-x10-10-9-9. The USA lost one point in the third end (57-58) to lead 171-169. In the final end, the Americans shot 10-9-10-10-10-10. Russia had good scores at x10-x10-x10-9-9-10, but it was not enough. The USA won 230-227 and took their revenge from Porec!   Sebastien FLUTE: The Americans took the lead very early on, in the first three arrows. They were always near the end of the time limit in the last two ends and the competition was very close. Nonetheless the Americans managed to stay in the lead. The level was very high on both sides, with for example only one 9 from Albina LOGINOVA.   Recurve Mixed Team   Gold Medal – Korea vs USA The Korean team consisted of KI Bo Bae and LEE Chang-Hwan, both of whom qualified for the individual gold medal final in the afternoon. The USA had the 1992 Olympic team bronze medallist Khatuna LORIG and the rising star Jake KAMINSKI. In this final, the Koreans had scores of 8-10-9-9 in the first end, allowing the USA to pass them with 9-9-10-9. Korea put the pressure on their opponents in the second end by shooting X10-x10-9-10 but the Americans didn’t falter and scored 10-10-9-10 to maintain their 1-point lead at the halfway mark (76-75). The USA started to lose their confidence in the third end. Their scores were three 9s and a final 6 by Khatuna LORIG. This last arrow caused the US team to trail by 4 points before the last four arrows (109-113). Korea concluded the match with 38 to win 151-146. Korea took the gold, but the Americans will make the trip to Edinburgh thanks to their previous victories in the World Cup stages this year.   Sebastien FLUTE: As in the previous matches of the day, the archers from Korea had trouble in the first end. It’s unusual to see them start a match like this. In this case it wasn’t too bad because they trailed by only 1 point. The USA stayed in the game until the ninth arrow. They lost all hopes for the gold in the third end when they scored a 6.   Compound Mixed Team   Gold Medal – Mexico vs Iran This match was very important for Mexico, who needed to win the gold medal in order to qualifiy for the World Cup Final in Edinburgh. In the first set, both women outscored the men. The scores were 10-9-x10-10 for Hafid JAIME/Linda OCHOA and 10-10-9-10 for Seyedeh-Vida HALIMIANAVVAL/Reza ZAMANINEJAD. Tie at 39-39. Mexico scored 10-10-9-9 in the second end, while Iran shot 10-8-9-9, which caused them a 2-point deficit at the halfway mark (75-77). Mexico increased their lead in the third end by outscoring Iran 10-x10-9-10 to X10-8-x10-10. JAIME/OCHOA led 116-113 before the last four arrows. They concluded with x10-10-9-10 (Iran shot 10-9-9-9) to win the match 155-150. Mexico won the gold medal and qualified for the World Cup Final!   Crispin DUENAS: Both teams started out strong but Mexico kept it going while Iran had some problems, especially with the 8s that were shot.   The competition continues in the afternoon with the individual finals for the gold and the bronze medals.   Vanahé ANTILLE World Archery Communication