Wang Lu-Yun takes lone top seed for hosts as second leg of Asia Cup starts in Chinese Taipei

Korean youth recurve archers Kim Hyeonjong and Kim Minseo, Malaysia’s Mohd Juwaidi Mazuki and the host’s Wang Lu-Yun seeded top at the second leg of the 2019 Asia Cup in Chinese Taipei.

Wang tied with Kanyavee Maneesombatkul of Thailand to lead compound women’s qualification on 680 points but was given pole on 10-count, shooting 42 arrows into the middle to Kanyavee’s 38.

Mazuki was six points clear at the top of the compound men’s leaderboard after scoring 697.

Minseo’s 665 was highest over the recurve women’s ranking round, after which Korea had the top four places. Hyeonjong shot 663, top of the men but two behind his female teammate.

Australia’s David Barnes seeded third in the recurve men’s event with 657.

“The conditions for the first half were okay. There was wind but it wasn’t drifting the arrows too much,” he said. “The back half, I found much more challenging. Shooting in enclosed stadiums is often tricky as the flags on the targets can go one way, windsocks another and then the wind on your body feels a different direction again. It’s a lot of information to process!”

Many of the archers in the nine teams represented at this event are from the youth ranks, acquiring valuable experience as the international season winds down. 

Thirty-three-year-old Barnes went to this summer’s world championships for Australia. He’s intent on attending as many tournaments as he can.

“We don‘t have a lot of opportunity for high-stakes competition in Australia – so I figured Taipei is a great chance for more international experience and only a 12-hour flight away,” he explained. “The Olympics are less than a year away so I want to ensure I am doing everything I can for selections and ultimately the Games themselves.”

David finished 35th in Athens in 2004, his only Olympic appearance to date. He stopped shooting internationally in 2007 but returned to the Australian team in 2018.

Joined by Astin Darcy and Victor Wei in Taipei, Australia’s recurve men seeded fourth as a team, 75 points behind leader Korea on 1976.

The Korean women’s team also ranked first, as did Minseo and Hyeongjong in the recurve mixed team competition.

Malaysia took the top seeds in the compound men’s, compound women’s and compound mixed team events.

Eliminations at this second leg of the 2019 Asia Cup take place over the weekend. Compound finals are scheduled for Monday, recurve on Tuesday.

The second leg of the 2019 Asia Cup takes place on 1-6 August in Taipei, Chinese Taipei.