Australian men make Medellin medal match after pair of tiebreaks

Australia beat the Netherlands in the semifinals of the recurve men’s team event to secure a final match against Korea at the first stage of the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Medellin, Colombia.

It was a day in which simply good shooting wasn’t good enough.

“It was phenomenal from every archer on the field today. The scores were just super high. It’s great to see,” said Taylor Worth.

He, Ryan Tyack and Dave Barnes needed shoot-offs in their last-16 match against Colombia and quarterfinal bout with the USA. The first was won with two 10s and a nine, the second with two 10s and an eight.

It set-up a semifinal clash with the Netherlands, in which the Australian trio averaged more than 57 points a set in a 5-3 victory.

“We all just trust each other as teammates and believe in each other. If one of us drops a point, the other one won’t. We have that belief in everything we do,” added Taylor.

Australian coach Shih Ya-Ping said she was happy to see her team performing well early in the season.

The squad that will attempt to secure Australia its Olympic spaces at Tokyo 2020 during this summer’s world championships is not yet decided. They’ll be named after the first two stages of the Hyundai Archery World Cup here in Medellin and in Shanghai.

But there are high expectations for an Australian team that collected bronze at the last Games in Rio.

“This is just another day on the road to Tokyo. We’ll just keep it going, one day at a time,” said Taylor.

Australia’s recurve men’s team is guaranteed its second consecutive medal on the Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit. Taylor, Ryan and Dave took bronze in Berlin to close the season in 2018.

The final in Medellin will be tough.

Through three matches and three straight-set wins, the Korean men didn’t have a set score lower than 57. They averaged more than 58 points every six arrows.

The Netherlands will face Canada in the recurve men’s team bronze medal match.

Competition at the first stage of the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Medellin, Colombia runs until Sunday 28 April.