ELLISON reaches yet another final again!

 
Those athletes who survived through the 1/24 round caught up in the afternoon with the top 8 from qualifications who were exempt from the morning rounds. Competition went all the way from 1/16 eliminations to the semifinals.   Recurve Men – 1/16 The first round of the afternoon in recurve men was a kind of nation story with four matches pitting teammates against each other! The second seeded KUO Cheng Wei from Chinese Taipei easily beat his fellow countryman CHEN Yu-Cheng (38), 6-2.   The best archer in the world Brady ELLISON (USA/7) needed five sets to defeat his teammate Joe FANCHIN (39), but clinched the match with a perfect 30-point set to win 6-4. Same score in the all-French face-to-face between Gael PREVOST (4) and Thomas AUBERT (29), but this time the higher seeded athlete PREVOST was upset by the lower AUBERT!   The Italy-Italy encounter of this round was an even closer match. The 2004 Olympic champion Marco GALIAZZO (22) was leading after each of the first three sets (2-0, 3-1, 5-1). However, with 30 and 28 in the last two sets, Mauro NESPOLI (11) came back and tied at 5-5. This gave NESPOLI a moral lead that helped him score a 10 in the shoot-off to upset his fellow countryman.   Recurve Men – 1/8 Among the top 8 recurve men only the No. 1 IM Dong Hyun (KOR) and No. 7 Brady ELLISON (USA) survived to the quarter-finals. IM's teammate and reigning world champion KIM Woojin (8) suffered defeat in the 1/8 round, 4-6 against Dmytro HRACHOV (UKR/9).   A third Korean, KIM Bubmin (KOR/3), was also surprisingly upset by Piotr NOWAK (POL/46), 6-2 for the Pole. The second seeded competitor, KUO Cheng Wei (TPE/2), was leading 4-0 and 5-1 against the local representative XING Yu (CHN/15). He then lost the last two sets, the tie-break and the match!   The two Canadians Jay LYON (5) and Crispin DUENAS (6) both shot a new national record in the qualifications with 677 points. DUENAS was stopped in the 1/16 round, while his teammate advanced one more round. However, LYON suffered from a clear defeat in 1/8, beaten by Juan I. RODRIGUEZ (ESP/12), 3-7.   Recurve Men – Quarter-finals The top seeded archer and last Korean still in competition missed his quarter-final match completely. IM scored sets of 26, 28 and 28, far from enough against Ukraine's HRACHOV, bronze medallist at the 2011 World Cup Final and Olympic Test Event. The Ukrainian proved more consistent shooting 29 points three times (6-0).   Two quarter-finals were decided with a tie-break. The Frenchman AUBERT defeated the Spaniard RODRIGUEZ, 9-8 in the shoot-off, while the American ELLISON needed a perfect shot to get over his Chinese opponent XING, 10-9. The World Cup Final and Olympic Test Event winner is the only top 8 left so far! In the semi-final ELLISON will face CHENG Chu Sian (MAS) who easily beat the Polish athlete NOWAK, 7-1.   Recurve Men – Semifinals The two highest seeded competitors in the semi-final will meet in the gold final on Saturday. ELLISON lost the second set after having won the first one and was tied at 2-2 by the archer from Malaysia CHENG. However, the American champion then shot two perfect sets to clinch a 6-2 victory.   In the second semi-final HRACHOV took an early decisive lead, 4-0 after two sets. The Ukrainian saw his contender from France AUBERT come back at 4-2, but he was on his guard and won the fourth set to clinch the match, 6-2.   Recurve Women – 1/16 Among the top 8 competitors who joined the fray in the afternoon, three were really given a hard time. While CHOI Hyeonju (KOR/5) and Natalia VALEEVA (ITA/6) could get out of a hazardous situation, the 2nd seeded TAN YA-Ting (TPE) did not have such luck. The archer from Chinese Taipei shot almost the same arrow, a 9, as her opponent, Miranda LEEK (USA/34), but a very little bit further from the centre.     Same situation in the match between the Korean CHOI and Ren HAYAKAWA (JPN/28)! Tied at 5-5, the two contenders scored 9 each in the tie-break, the shot being this time in favour of the higher seeded athlete.   VALEEVA, reigning team world champion, managed to avoid further disappointment for her country. The Italian drew out experience to shoot a perfect 10 in her shoot-off against Nurul Syafiiqah HASHIM, the surprising No. 86 seeded from Malaysia.   Recurve Women – 1/8 Three Koreans out of the four in competition in Shanghai have qualified for the quarter-finals. While CHOI Hyeonju (5) had a comfortable victory 6-2 over Chuluun OYUNSUREN (MGL/60), her teammate and top seed KI Bo Bae was given a hard time in her second match of the day. Competing on home soil, XU Jing (CHN/17) drove the Korean into a shoot-off arrow, but the Chinese could not stand pressure and scored a 6. Victory for KI with a 9!   KI will face her fellow CHANG Hye Jin (KOR/9) in the quarter-finals. The newcomer in the national team defeated LE Chieh-Ying (TPE/8), 6-4. Difficult comeback for the fourth Korean, LEE Sung Jin, who won two Olympic medals in Athens 2004! She was upset in her second match, 3-7 against CHENG Ming (CHN/13), and will have to get used to the set system format.   The 18-year old American LEEK, recent indoor team world champion and individual silver medallist in Vegas, survived a second shoot-off in a row. And once again it was very tight! In her 1/8 elimination match versus Ksenia PEROVA (RUS/15) the U.S. archer once again scored a 9 that proved a bit closer to the centre than the arrow of her opponent.   LEEK will shoot against Chekrovolu SWURO (IND/7) in the quarter-final. The Indian came out victorious 6-4 against her teammate Laishram Bombayla DEVI (10). There will be a second representative of India in the quarter-final round, after Deepika KUMARI (3) defeated the last Italian still in the race, VALEEVA, 6-4.   Recurve Women – Quarter-finals Contrary to what happened on the men's side, the No. 1 seeded recurve woman reached the semi-final round. In a very tight match against her teammate CHANG Hye Jin, KI Bo Bae released a 10 in the tie-break. In her next match she will shoot against another fellow, CHOI Hyeonju, who defeated the local favourite and World Cup Final defender CHENG Ming (CHN), 7-3.   The second semi-final will see FANG Yuting (CHN) and Miranda LEEK (USA) facing each other. The Chinese and American ladies upset the two Indians KUMARI and SWURO on the same score of 7-3.   Recurve Women – Semifinals The top seeded female archer honoured her position, making it to the gold medal match that will take place on Saturday, but it was not so easy for the Korean KI Bo Bae against her teammate CHOI Hyeonju who got off to a perfect start. With 30 points in the first set CHOI took the lead 2-0. She was then caught up by KI after shooting a 7 at the end of the second set. The two Koreans were tied at 2-2 and then 3-3. KI took the advantage for the first time of the match at 5-3 thanks to three perfect arrows in the fourth set. CHOI could not catch her and KI won 7-3.   The local fans will have the opportunity to cheer for one of their athletes on the River Boulevard in Pudong! The Chinese FANG Yuting stopped the young American LEEK, 6-4 in the semi-final. On Saturday FANG will face KI for gold, while LEEK will shoot for the third medal at stake, bronze, against CHOI.   Compound Men – 1/16 Two of the eight pre-seeded athletes in the 1/16 eliminations (exempt from the first two rounds) suffered early defeat in their first match. The No. 7 and 8 seeded archers Duncan BUSBY (GBR) and Rodger WILLET JR. (USA) lost to Julio Ricardo FIERRO (MEX/26) and Majid GHEYDI (IRI/25), respectively, on the scores of 143-146 and 142-143.   The defending World Cup Final winner WILLET might have lost more than just a game today with the season's Final in prospect, since this year there are only three World Cup stages, and therefore, every one of them counts.   The highest score of this round was the work of Peter ELZINGA (NED/9). The Dutchman shot close to perfection with 149 out of a possible 150 score. Nothing to do in these conditions for his opponent Gabriel OLIFEROW (VEN/24) who reached 140 points!   Compound Men – 1/8 Three archers scored 149 points in their 1/8 elimination matches. Dominique GENET (FRA/4) had to make it such a performance to get over the 2009 and 2010 World Cup Final winner, Sergio PAGNI (ITA/13). The Italian scored a strong 147 match, but this was not enough…   GENET will meet his teammate Pierre Julien DELOCHE (FRA/6) in the quarter-final. The 6th seeded archer defeated the Amir KAZEMPOOR (IRI/22) on the same score, 149-147. The third athlete reaching 149 points in this round was the top seed from USA, Reo WILDE. He also defeated an Iranian representative, Reza ZAMANINEJAD (17), who scored 146.   Three Americans have remained in the race. Dave COUSINS (3) beat the Vietnamese Tien Cuong NGUYEN (14), 143-140, while Braden GELLENTHIEN (5) kicked out the Belgian Michael CAUWE (12), 146-142.   Compound Men – Quarter-finals Reo WILDE (USA) was in cruise control during his quarter-finals. He kept a perfect score during 12 arrows and claimed victory 149-144 against Peter ELZINGA (NED).   There were two American-French duels and this time France won. Dominique GENET (FRA) defeated Braden GELLENTHIEN (USA). They were tied at 59-59 after six arrows, then 89-89. Finally, GENET took the advantage, 119-117, 148-147. Pierre Julien DELOCHE (FRA) and Dave COUSINS (USA) shot 59-58, 89-88, 118-118, 148-147!   In the last quarter-final Paul TITSCHER (GER) was in close contact with Julio Ricardo FIERRO (MEX) but he did not finish well: 58-59, 88-89, 117-118, 143-146; victory for FIERRO.   Compound Men – Semi-finals In the semi-finals, WILDE and FIERRO dominated their opponents. WILDE took the lead at 57-56 over GENET and then increased it to 87-84, 116-113, 146-141. FIERRO also led against DELOCHE by one point after six arrows, 59-58. Then the lead increased at 89-87, 118-115, 148-143.    Compound Women – 1/16 The 1/16 elimination round was fatal to the second and third seeds in this category. Linda OCHOA (MEX/2) shot a low score of 136 points, not enough to exceed 142 by her opponent Olga BOSCH (VEN/31).   In a tighter match Jamie VAN NATTA (USA/3) was pushed towards a tie-break by her teammate Diane WATSON (35), 142-142. The two additional arrows were high level shots: two X10s, but as the one by VAN NATTA hit the line, WATSON's arrow was inside the line for victory.   A second face-to-face was decided in a shoot-off in this round. The two Indians Gagandeep KAUR (14) and PARVEENA (19) were tied at 140 each after five. And their tie-break arrows were so similar to each other that measurement was needed. At the end victory went to the best seeded KAUR.   Compound Women – 1/8 After she upset the No. 8 seeded lady, Pascale LEBECQUE (FRA), 140-142 in the previous round, Vanina BACKIS from Argentina (40), gave a hard time to the No. 9, Christie COLIN (USA). The match was tied, 138-138, but the American could count on experience and self-confidence to shoot a 10 in the tie-break. With an 8, the Argentinian's journey ended.   The top seeded lady had a hard time in this round. The score between Danielle BROWN (GBR/1) and Amaya Amparo PAZ (PHI/16) was 134-134 with only one arrow to go. The last shot by the archer from the Philippines, a 9, forced her opponent to get a perfect arrow if she wanted to avoid a shoot-off and at least 9 not to lose. The para world champion from Great Britain handled pressure perfectly to clinch victory with a 10.   Her previous victory against the 2nd seed boosted the confidence of the No. 31 BOSCH. Against Caroline MARTRET (FRA/18), the Venezuelan clinched a ti win by 139-138.   Compound Women – Quarter-finals Once again the two arch-rivals met: Albina LOGINOVA (RUS) and Erika ANSCHUTZ (USA)! Once again, it was very tight. The athletes were tied at 58-58, and then LOGINOVA scored 10-10-9 to take a 1-point lead, 87-86. Then both archers scored 9-9-10, 115-114. Erika finished with a perfect 10-10-10 but she was matched by Albina who therefore won the match 145-144!   The other quarter-finals were not so close: Danielle BROWN (GBR), Diane WATSON (USA) and Marcella TONIOLI (ITA) qualified for the semi-finals.   Compound Women – Semi-finals BROWN and LOGINOVA fought a hard match in the semi-final, proving once again that BROWN, who may compete in the para-archery discipline, is also truly part of the elite in the able-bodied discipline. The athletes were tied at 58-58, before LOGINOVA took a 1-point lead, 87-86. Then both archers scored 9-9-9; BROWN being close to get one 10 but still trailed 113-114. BROWN scored 10-9-10 in the last end and LOGINOVA was actually a bit fortunate not to concede defeat. She scored 10-10 and a liner 8 to tie the match at 142-142. The Russian pulled herself back together for the shoot-off and prevailed 10-9.   In the other semi-final, TONIOLI kept shooting strong and got the upper hand over WATSON. Score evolution: 58-58, 88-87, 117-116, 145-143.   The competition will continue on Friday with the team elimination rounds.   Stayed tuned to www.worldarchery.org!   World Archery Communication