KWAK wins the women’s gold in Singapore

The junior women competed in their elimination matches all the way to the gold medal final today at the Youth Olympic Games. The title went to KWAK Ye Ji (KOR) ahead of TAN Ya-Ping (TPE) and Tatiana SEGINA (RUS).   1/8 elimination round   KWAK Ye Ji (KOR) vs Maud CUSTERS (NED) This match displayed a true elite archer: in 2009 KWAK became team world champion, individual silver medallist at the World Championships, winner of the 2009 World Cup Final and winner of the Antalya World Cup stage. Her opponent CUSTERS already has the experience of the World Youth Championships.   KWAK started this match with a 10 and won the first set 27-25. However she didn’t shoot so well in the second set, 8-8-x10 against 8-9-9 for CUSTERS. The archers tied at 26-26 and the score advanced to 3-1. KWAK shot a perfect 30 in the third set to lead 5-1 and went on to win the fourth set 29-26. With a score of 7-1 she advanced to the quarterfinals.   Alice INGLEY (AUS) vs Alexandra MIRCA (MDA) Alexandra MIRCA lost the first set due to a 6 in her first arrow. In the second set she shot a very tight group of 7s, while her opponent Alice INGLEY shot 9-7-9 to lead 4-0. The course of the match changed completely when the Australian archer shot a 4 in the third set. Meanwhile MIRCA was recovering her confidence and went on shooting better and better. She came back 2-4 and 4-4. In the fifth set, both girls shot a 9 and an 8. In the last arrow, MIRCA shot a 9 which INGLEY couldn’t surpass (she shot an 8). The archer from Moldavia will compete in the quarterfinals.   Seema VERMA (IND) vs Zoe GOEBBELS (BEL) The recent youth field world champion Zoe GOEBBELS (BEL) won the first set 27-25, and the archers tied in the second set (26-26). GOEBBELS led 3-1. She shot slightly better than her opponent in the third set (10-9-9 against 9-9-9) to lead 5-1. In the fourth set, she needed an 8 in her last arrow to win the match, but she shot only a 7 to lead 5-3. Zoe reacted in the fifth set, which she won 9-9-8 to 8-8-8. In doing so she won the match 7-3!   Miriam ALARCON (ESP) vs Mariana AVITIA (MEX) Mariana AVITIA (MEX), who finished 8th at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, won the first set 8-x10-9 to 9-8-9. She shot even better in the second set, which she won 29-24 to lead 4-0. ALARCON shot 9-8-10 (27) in the last set, enough to tie AVITIA’s 9-10-8 and come back 2-4. Both girls entered the fourth set with an 8 and a 10. ALACORN concluded with a 6, opening a large door for AVITIA, who claimed the match with a 9.   Tatiana SEGINA (RUS) vs Mai OKUBO (JPN) The regular World Cup archer Tatiana SEGINA (RUS) won gold in Cadet at the 2008 Youth World Archery Championships and was 22nd at the elite world championships in Ulsan last year. She did not start the match so well with 9-8-9, while her opponent scored 8-10-9 to take the first set. Roles were reversed in the second set. OKUBO scored 10-7-9, while SEGINA did 10-10-9 to tie the match at 2-2. The next was tied, 3-3! Idem for the four set, 4-4! The last set was going to be decisive. SEGINA started with a 10, OKUBO with a 9. SEGINA shot another 10. OKUBO had an 8. SEGINA clinched the match with a last 10! What a way to conclude a match!   Isabel VIEHMEIER (GER) vs Miranda LEEK (USA) The rain started for this match, which may have caused that the archers shot with a lower speed than usual. Lower speed usually means lower precision. That was the case for LEEK who started with 7-6-7, while VIEHMEIER had 8-9-8 to take the first set. The American had a better group in second set but the score was still not sufficiant, 8-7-7. The German led 4-0 thanks to 7-9-8. Then VIEMHMEIER committed a mistake with a 6 and 9-7, while LEEK found some rhythm with an 8-10-9 to reduce the gap, 2-4. The American, winner of the El Salvador Olympic Festival in 2009, continued with 9-8-9, while the German scored 9-8 and then found a 10 to take the set (27-26) and the match!   Lidiia SICHENIKOVA (UKR) vs SONG Jia (CHN) Lidiia SICHENIKOVA (UKR) was 3rd in Cadet at the 2008 Youth World Archery Championships. However her opponent SONG had a better start with 8-9-10 and 9-10-10 to lead 4-0, while the rain stopped. The Ukrainian responded in the third set with a 9-10-10 of her own to reduce the score a 2-4. Then SICHENIKOVA scored a 7-9, while SONG did 8-8. Both archers finished the fourth set with 10s and the Chinese athlete kept the lead 5-3. SICHENIKOVA tried to put pressure with a 9-9 10 in the last set, but SONG responded with 10-10-9 to win the match 7-3!   Begunhan Elif UNSAL (TUR) vs TAN Ya-Ting (TPE) The Turkish archer won the individual bronze at the 2010 Senior European Championships and at the first mixed team/mixed countries event at these Singapore Youth Olympic Games yesterday! She did not have the best start however with 9-8-8, while her opponent scored 9-9-10 to take a 2-0 lead. UNSAL came back on the second with 8-9-10, while TAN did 9-7-9, 2-2. On the third set, the Chinese Taipei athlete scored 10-10-10 to lead 4-2! UNSAL started the fourth set with a 7 and pretty much abandoned her chances for another victorious day. TAN scored 9-10-10 in the fourth set to win the match 6-2.   That concluded the morning session. The quarterfinals, semifinals and medal matches were shot in the afternoon.     Quarterfinals   KWAK Ye Ji (KOR) vs Alexandra MIRCA (MDA) KWAK Ye-Ji (KOR) had come as high as No. 2 in the world ranking until May 2010. She is the current team world champion, individual silver medallist at the world championships, winner of the 2009 World Cup Final. She is now ranked No. 7 in the world and the heavy favourite at the Youth Olympic Games. She started the quarterfinal session with a 10 on the line that made the difference in the first set (10-8-9 vs 9-8-8). Even the best can do mistake however and KWAK scored a 4 in the second set. The young Moldavian talent MIRCA took advantage of it with 8-10-9 to tie the match at 2-2. KWAK put the things back in order in the third set with 10-9-10, while MIRCA did 7-9-7. The Korean led 4-2. MIRA started the fourth set with a 9, KWAK had a 9. The Moldovan shot a 10, the Korean got a 9. MIRCA got another 10 and clinched the set. Score was tied at 4-4 before the final set! KWAK shot a 9, MIRCA shot an 8 or a liner 9. KWAK earned a 10; MIRCA a 9. Ultimate pressure; last arrow. KWAK had to let down and release her arrow with only one second to go. She scored an 8 only. MIRCA scored a 9. The judge had to go look at the first arrow of the Moldovan and confirmed it was an 8. Hence, KWAK took the set (27-26) and the match, 6-4. The favourite was under pressure!   Zoe GOEBBELS (BEL) vs Mariana AVITIA (MEX) Mariana AVITIA (MEX), who finished 8th at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and was the youngest member of the whole Mexican delegation, is currently No. 15 in the (elite) world. The two archers traded sets at the beginning and the score was tied at 2-2. Then the level got very high. GOEBBELS scored 9-9-10, while AVITIA had 10-9-10 to take the set. She continued with another 10 and 8-8 for 26 points. GOEBBELS could only manage 8-9-8 for 25 points. AVITIA won 6-2!   Tatiana SEGINA (RUS) vs Isabel VIEHMEIER (GER) SEGINA started really well with 9-9-10, while VIEHMEIER had 10-9-8. SEGINA continued with 9-10-9; again better than the 8-9-9 of VIEHMEIER. Despite the experience of her coach (four Olympic Games as coach of the national team, winning two medals); the German could not reverse the flow of the match. She scored 9-8-8, while SEGINA concluded with 9-9-10 to take a 6-0 victory.   SONG Jia (CHN) vs TAN Ya-Ting (TPE) TAN Ya-Ting (TPE) is No. 69 in the world and she placed 9th at the recent Ogden World Cup in August 2000 and 4th in the Taipei City Grand Prix this year. She was more consistent in the first set with 9-9-9, while SONG had 8-7-10. TAN led 2-0. The continued with 9-10-10 to lead 4-0. SONG tried to come back, shooting a 9. She followed it up with a 6 and an 8. TAN remained focuse and shot 8-8-10 to take the match 6-0!   The top four seeded archers from the qualifications reached the semifinals!     Semifinals   KWAK Ye Ji (KOR) vs Mariana AVITIA (MEX) Everyone expected KWAK to take the lead from the start, but Mariana AVITIA had the best start, winning the first set 9-10-9 to 9-9-8. The Mexican Olympian went on to win the second set (8-x10-x10 to 9-9-9). KWAK clinched the third set and the fourth to come back 2-4, 4-4, thanks to her good shooting and some 8s by AVITIA. From the third set, the Mexican was unable to shoot in the 10 ring. The match ended with another set won by KWAK 28-26. 6-4, victory for the Korean archer!   Tatiana SEGINA (RUS) vs TAN Ya-Ting (TPE) The archer from Chinese Taipei shot the first arrow of this match, a 6 that released the pressure on SEGINA. The young Russian won the set 28-26. TAN came back superbly with a series of 10-10-10 to win the second set. The archers were tied at 2-2. TAN won the third set 8-9-10 to 8-8-10 to lead 4-2. She shot a total of 29 in the last set to surpass SEGINA’s 26 and advance to the gold medal final.     Bronze Medal Final   Mariana AVITIA (MEX) vs Tatiana SEGINA (RUS) This final featured the No 3 seed from qualifications (SEGINA) against the No 4 (AVITIA). The Russian archer won the first set 9-10-9 (to 8-8-9 by AVITIA). However AVITIA quickly increased her level to win the next set 28-26 and tie at 2-2. Both archers looked confident. In the third set, AVITIA shot 8-10-9, and SEGINA was slightly better (10-10-8) to lead 4-2. Both archers shot the same scores in their first two arrows of the final set. Shooting first, Mariana AVITIA concluded with a 7. SEGINA didn’t falter and with her 10, she secured the bronze medal.     Gold Medal Final   KWAK Ye Ji (KOR) vs TAN Ya-Ting (TPE) The leader from qualifications KWAK met the No 2 TAN in this final. The Korean couldn’t have hoped for a better start (10-10-10). TAN replied with a perfect second set (KWAK had 10-10-8) to come back at 2-2. It seemed like both archers really wanted the gold medal. The third set was KWAK’s, who three more 10s to take the lead 4-2. With a total of 29 she overcame her opponent in the last set to win the gold medal!
The 117 points shot by KWAK with her 12-arrows would have been a junior world record under the previous competition format.   The order of the qualifications was respected since the first four ranked archers took the first four spots in the finals!   The competition continues tomorrow with the boys’ individual finals.   Vanahé ANTILLE/Didier MIEVILLE World Archery Communication