The French PREVOST and SCHUH upset Korean favourites in recurve quarterfinals


  On Korea's side, only the No. 1 female archery JUNG Dasomi is left in semifinals where she will face the Chinese CHENG Ming. SCHUH will face the young, talented Indian Deepika KUMARI.   In the men's competition, PREVOST will be against the best recurve archer in the world Brady ELLISON who easily defeated the Turkish wild card Yagiz YILMAZ. The second semifinal will feature the 2004 team Olympic bronze medallist from Ukraine Dmytro HRACHOV and the Chinese contender DAI Xiaoxiang.   The World Cup Final competition started on Saturday with the compound events. The recurve matches then followed on Sunday, 25 September with the quarterfinals and mixed team match in the morning.   The Rumeli Castle is just across the river, which is spanned by theFatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, a structure connecting Europe with Asia and providing yet another dramatic backdrop for the archers. The athletes have no second chance as they start directly in quarterfinal knockout matches. The recurve quarterfinals and recurve mixed team match took place on Sunday morning, 25 September. These matches will be followed by the individual semifinals and medal matches in the afternoon.   The recurve matches are played in the best-of-five sets format. Each set consists in three arrows and is worth two points; each archer gets one point in case of a tied set. The first archer with six set points wins the match. In case of a tied match at 5-5 in set points, a one-arrow shoot-off is played. The winner is the archer whose arrow is closest to centre.   Recurve Men – Quarterfinals   The defending champion from Edinburgh and No. 1 in the world, Brady ELLISON (USA), has emerged last year as THE archery star! He is the only competitor in the category to have experience of a World Cup Final. OH Jin Hyek (KOR) also benefits from high level competitions experience, being two times team world champion (2009, 2011) and one time individual silver medallist (2011). The other archers have burst on the front stage this season.   DAI Xiaoxiang (CHN/7) v Joe FANCHIN (USA/2) FANCHIN is the one who earned the best results among the newcomers this year, including an individual bronze medal at the Ogden World Cup stage and a victory at the Shanghai stage where he punched his ticket for Istanbul. He was ranked 14th in the world going to Shanghai and is now 6th! DAI clinched two individual top 10 in the World Cup circuit this year (4th in Antalya, 8th in Ogden) and won the team silver medal at the 2010 Asian Games. In 2011, the two archers met at the Turin World Championships and Antalya World Cup for two victories for the Chinese.   The first set was won by the American representative who took the best start with 9-10-8, against 8-9-7 for his opponent. The two athletes opened the second set with two 8s each. Shooting first, DAI then put pressure with a 10. FANCHIN needed a 10 also to tie the set, but with a 9 he let the set go to the Chinese, who tied the match at 2-2.   The third was a tied set with the two archers shooting 28 points each. DAI then took the lead for the first time of the match (5-3). In the fourth set, he kept all three arrows in the yellow (9-9-10), while his opponent finished the set in the red (9-9-8).   After shooting a perfect 10 to start the final set, FANCHIN released a 7 and a 9 (26 points). Starting with 10-10, DAI had victory in hand. He needed a 7 to win the set or a 6 to tie the set. He released a… 6 to clinch a 1-point set and win 6-4.   Dmytro HRACHOV (UKR/3) v Pedro VIVAS ALCALA (MEX/6) HRACHOV is a quiet, studious, serious competitor who won three medals at Stage 3 in Ogden this year, including silver in the individual event. He also took bronze at Stage 2 in Antalya. Seven years ago, he was part of the Ukrainian team who won the bronze medal at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. VIVAS ALCALA clinched two top 10 (6th in Antalya and 3rd in Shanghai) to qualify for the World Cup Final. He finished 9th of the World Championships 2011 in Turin.   The two competitors were close in the first set, but with three 9s, versus 8-9-9 for his opponent, the Mexican took the lead at 2-0. In the second set, it was the Ukrainian's turn to score a triple 9 and win the two set points at stake (three 8s for VIVAS). The match was tied at 2-2.   HRACHOV then repeated a 9-9-9 series, enough to win the third set against 8-8-9 for his opponent, and the Ukrainian took the lead, 4-2. He was on the right track and left no chance for VIVAS to recover finishing with a strong 29-point fourth set. Victory for HRACHOV, 6-2!   OH Jin Hyek (KOR/5) V Gael PREVOST (FRA/4) OH Jin Hyek won the individual silver medal and the team gold at the World Championships. He also won the team gold at the 2009 World Championships in Ulsan, where he set a world record for the FITA Round at the time. The Korean was 2nd at the World Cup in Antalya and is ranked 3rd in the world. His opponent of the day, the young PREVOST, is currently ranked 12th in the world at just 17 years old! He was in the French team that won the silver medal at this year's world championships in Italy and was on several team podiums in World Cup events. He finished three times in the top 10 (5th in Antalya and in Ogden, 7th in Shanghai) to clinch a ticket for the Istanbul Final.   PREVOST was a little unlucky with his first two arrows that hit very close to the 10-ring. With three 9s and 27 points, the Frenchman let the first two set points go to his contender from Korea.   Nobody knows what happened to OH in the second set when he released a 3 and a 4 (!) followed by 10. With only 17 points, the Korean obviously lost the set and the match was tied at 2-2.   Turning around since the beginning of the match, PREVOST finally clinched his first 10 to open the third set. This arrow made the difference in this set, as the Frenchman won 28-27 to take the lead at 4-2. The talented, young archer added two other 10s, together with a 9, in the fourth set to overcome the world No. 3 archer by 6-2!   Brady ELLISON (USA/1) v Yagiz YILMAZ (TUR/wild card) ELLISON is the defending champion from Edinburgh and No. 1 in the world. He won the first three World Cup stages this season, conceding defeat only in Shanghai. At Stage 3 on home soil, he won the three gold medals at stake! He also won the individual bronze at the Turin World Championships. Five-time Olympian fellow countryman Butch JOHNSON says of ELLISON that "he's the best USA's ever had!" Interesting about ELLISON is that he switched from compound to recurve in 2005. His opponent of the day, the Turk YILMAZ, is currently unranked in the world ranking. Only 18 years old, he ranked 17th at the World Youth Championships in August and was 9th in the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.   The best archer in the world ELLISON ensured the first two set points thanks to a strong 29-point first set. In spite of a beautiful 10 to open the match in front of his home crowd, YILMAZ followed with 8 and 6 in this series.   In the second set, the Turk gave strong opposition with 10-9-9. As ELLISON scored 9-10, he needed another 10 to win the set. The American's experience spoke and he clinched a perfect shot to increase the lead at 4-0.   Despite shooting his first arrow outside of the yellow (an 8), ELLISON had the match in hand and would not let it go. He finished with 10-9 to clinch an easy victory 6-0. But his young opponent left the field without having anything to be ashamed of.   Recurve Women – Quarterfinals   Deepika KUMARI (IND) is the only recurve women's finalist who already qualified for a World Cup Final. In Edinburgh last year, she was aged 16 only and ranked 5th. This is a brand new experience for all other seven ladies!   Berengere SCHUH (FRA/7) v HAN Gyeonghee (KOR/2) The experienced SCHUH has become more consistent at the top level year after year. In 2008, she won the team bronze medal at the Beijing Olympic Games and became individual European champion. She recently placed 4th at the Turin World Championships and 2nd at the World Cup stage in Shanghai. Just 19, HAN is among one of the newcomers in the Korean team and is No. 2 in the world ranking. She brilliantly qualified for the Istanbul Final after winning the stage in Croatia and finishing 3rd in Antalya. HAN was youth team world champion in 2009.   The two ladies had a perfect arrow to open the first set in the first match of the day. SCHUH then repeated with another 10, while her opponent scored a 9. After another 9 by HAN, a 9 was enough for the Frenchwoman to clinch the first set and the first two set points at stake.   The second set was easily won by the Korean HAN, after SCHUH scored two 8s (29-25). The match was tied at 2-2. In the third set, after a 7 by SCHUH at the first arrow, one thought the set would go to HAN. However, the Korean scored a very bad 5 to let the two set points go: 4-2 in favour of SCHUH.   In the fourth set, SCHUH started with two 5s (!) but finished with a strong 10. With 7-8-5, HAN could only manage to tie the set and the score was 5-3. The final set was dramatic! The Korean scored 8-9-10. Her opponent shot 10-6*-10, of which the second arrow had to be checked by the judge. It finally proved to be a 7, for a tied set, and a victory for SCHUH 6-4!   Deepika KUMARI (IND/3) v Alejandra VALENCIA (MEX/6) At 17 years old, KUMARI is an amazing talent. She is the 2009 cadet world champion and 2011 junior world champion. At the senior level, she won the individual and team events at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She also won a team silver medal at the Turin World Championships in July and two individual medals at the Ogden and Shanghai World Cup stages this year. VALENCIA finished 3rd in Ogden. The Mexican, who will also turn 17 in October, won the cadet bronze medal at the Youth World Championships in Legnica in August.   KUMARI took benefit of a 7 by her opponent to start the match (26-24). The Indian led 2-0 after the first set. In the second set, the two competitors scored 27 points each, and KUMARI kept the lead at 3-1.   In the third set, it was KUMARI's turn to score a 7 at the beginning, and with 25, against 26 for VALENCIA, the Indian let the Mexican come back and tie at 3-3. The match remained tied after the two young ladies both scored 28 points in the fourth set: 4-4.   VALENCIA started the final set with a bad 6 and followed with 10-9. With a strong set of 9-10-9, her opponent from India clinched the two set points at stake and won the match 6-4.   CHENG Ming (CHN/5) v Inna STEPANOVA (RUS/4) CHENG won the Ogden stage. It was her victory in the USA that assured her of a spot in the Istanbul Final. She was also individual and team silver medallist at the 2010 Asian Games. The young STEPANOVA (21 years old) was silver medallist at the World Cup stage in Antalya last year and just won the Shanghai stage at the beginning of the month. She won two gold medals (individual and mixed team) and one bronze (team) at the Asian Grand Prix in Bangkok at the beginning of the season. The Russian is currently ranked 4th in the world.   Very strong start for the Chinese in this match with 9-10-10! Nothing to do for her contender from Russia who, with 8-8-7 only, let the two set points go. However, CHENG scored two 8s in the second set. An 8-9-10 series was enough (27-26) for STEPANOVA to clinch the set and tie the match at 2-2.   Since the beginning of the competition, very strong gusts of wind have been disturbing the athletes and have given them a hard time! In such difficult conditions, CHENG released a 4 (!) to open the third set. In spite of a 7, STEPANOVA easily won the two set points (25-22) and took the lead for the first time in this match (4-2).   However, CHENG managed to recover and she tied at 4-4 thanks to a close-to-perfection fourth set (9-10-10). In the final set, the Chinese repeated the same series to win the set 29-27 and the match 6-4.   JUNG Dasomi (KOR/1) v Natalia NASARIDZE (TUR/wild card) JUNG is among one of the newcomers in the Korean team this season but she is already No. 1 in the world. She brilliantly qualified for the Final in Istanbul thanks to a victory in Antalya and 3rd rank in Porec. After winning the team bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships in Italy back in July, she won the team event one month later at the Summer Universiade in China where she also finished 2nd individually. NASARIDZE is making a comeback at the top level. She already shot for Turkey at the 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. She was 4th with her team at the Atlanta 1996 Games. The Turk is currently unranked in the world ranking (she did not compete at international level between 2008 and 2010), but her best ranking was 6th in 2003!   Despite two 8s in the first set, the local favourite NASARIDZE, cheered up by her fans, took benefit of a 7 by her opponent to clinch the first set 26-25 and take the lead at 2-0. However, the poor 6-8-7 series of the Turk in the second set could not handle a very strong set, 10-10-9, by the Korean. JUNG tied at 2-2.   In the third set, NASARIDZE lost it all again starting with a 5, followed by 8-7. With a 20-point set only, she let the two set points go again. With 28 points (10-9-9), JUNG easily took the lead at 4-2. The Korean had the match in hand. She finally clinched victory 6-2 after a 27-24 fourth set.   Recurve Mixed Team   The best mixed teams of the World Cup season are also present to shoot against the host country, Turkey. In the recurve event, as the No. 1 team USA could not send a recurve female competitor to Istanbul, the second best mixed team in the World Cup ranking will compete against the host country. Therefore, the Korean pair made up of OH Jin-Hyek and JUNG Dasomi will face the Turkish double with Yagiz YILMAZ and Natalia NASARIDZE.   OH Jin-Hyek/JUNG Dasomi (KOR) v Yagiz YILMAZ/Natalia NASARIDZE (TUR) The local pair started this match with two 7s, followed by 8 and 9. They finished the first end with 31 points and trailed by five (36 for the Koreans). YILMAZ and NASARIDZE kept their second end's four arrows in the yellow (27 points), but they could not manage to recover a single point as their opponents also scored 27 and the gap remained (73-68).   The lead then increased in favour of the pair OH/JUNG at seven points (107-100), as the Koreans took benefit of a 7 by NASARIDZE in the third end. In the final end, the Turks scored very good series with 9-10-10-9. However, they could only bow before their opponents' superiority who clinched a perfect 10-10-10-10 final end to win by 146-138!   Archery World Cup Final Facts   Ø       32 individual athletes coming from 15 countries—same number of countries represented at the 2010 World Cup Final in Edinburgh. Ø       10 of the athletes have been world champions Ø       11 athletes already participated in a World Cup Final and 6 already won it (3 were winners in Edinburgh) Ø       Athletes will all play for a share of prize-money and awards totalising more than 150'000 CHF   Stay tuned on www.worldarchery.org for our complete coverage of the Archery World Cup Final 2011 in Istanbul!   Ludivine MAITRE WICKI / Didier MIEVILLE World Archery Communication