Gloria FILIPPI and Anton KAROUNIN win the first Gold

The Mixed Team finals took place today at the Youth Olympic Games. The archers had the honour to shoot their matches under the eyes of Jacques ROGGE, the President of the International Olympic Committee. The mixed pair from Italy/Belarus won the gold medal, and a bronze went to the host country thanks to Abdud DAYYAN.   1/8 elimination round   SONG Jia (CHN) / PIANESI Lorenzo (ITA) vs Mai OKUBO (JPN) / KU Yuan-Hsiang (TPE) The archers shot good first arrows but were then affected by the wind. The scores were 10-9-9-6 for SONG/PIANESI, 10-9-5-9 for OKUBO/KU. The Chinese/Italian pair led 2-0 (34-33). This pair remained the most consistent in the following set, which they won 10-10-8-9 against 8-9-9-9. SONG/PIANESI led 4-0. Their score was not as high in the third set (9-9-9-8) but it was enough to beat OKUBO/KU’s 9-7-6-9. Victory 6-0 for SONG/PIANESI!   Maud CUSTERS (NED) / Vasuk SHAHNAZARYAN (ARM) vs Zoi PARASKEVOPOULOU (GRE) / Gregor RAJH (SLO) The wind made the exercise tricky for the archers. CUSTERS/SHAHNAZARYAN both shot the same scores in the first set (9-9-7-7), while PARASKEVOPOULOU/RAJH shot 9-7-7-10 to win the set by just 1 point. The NED/ARM pair came back in the second set with more consistent shooting (9-9-8-8 against 9-8-9-6). The score was tied at 2-2. Shooting first, CUSTERS opened the third set with a miss that gave the 2 set points to the Greek-Slovenian pair despite their weak total of 28. The Dutch archer quickly recovered her confidence. Her team won the fourth set 8-9-7-x10 to 6-9-7-7 to tie at 4-4. Such a come-back would have been unthinkable under the old competition format. In the final set, both teams started with 8-7 and so the match came down to the last two arrows. CLUSTERS/SHAHNAZARYAN shot 9-8, but their opponents were superb with two 10s! So PARASKEVOPOULOU/RAJH won the match 6-4 and advanced to the quarterfinals.   Miriam ALARCON (ESP) / Md. Emdad HAQUE MILON (BAN) vs Alexandra WOJNICKA (POL) / Yagiz YILMAZ (TUR) HAQUE MILON is currently the best Recurve Junior Men archer in the elite world ranking list, thanks to a good series of results in the Asian Grand Prix. He is ranked 58th in the world and his top result is a 2nd place at the Dakkha Grand Prix in 2009. He also ranked 11th in Bangkok 2010, 8th in New Delhi 2009 and 16th in Tehran 2009.   Here in Singapore the archer from Bangladesh shot good scores in the first set (10-9) but his partner was not as consistent (7-8) and they lost 34-35 to trail 0-2. The pair of WOJNICKA/YILMAZ could have won the second set thanks to their good start (9-9-9), but they suffered a bad last arrow (6). ALARCON/HAQUE MILON shot 9-10-7-8 to win 34-33 and tie at 2-2. The same scenario happened in the third set. The team from ESP/BAN shot 10-7-7-7, opening the door for their opponents. The pair from Poland/Turkey had a good opportunity to take the lead after shooting 9-9-8, but lost it on the last arrow, a bad 5. The teams tied at 31-31, 3-3. The fourth set went to ALARCON/HAQUE MILON (9-9-10-8 to 10-6-7-5), and so did the fifth (9-9-10-8 to 5-8-9-8). Victory 7-5 for the pair from Spain/Bangladesh.   Alice INGLEY (AUS) / Tsukushi KOIWA (JPN) Aya KAMEL (EGY) / Rick van den OEVER (NED) The pair from Egypt/the Netherlands had the leader from qualifications Rick van den OEVER, who is also 61st in the world ranking and had two strong results recently. He was 9th at the 2010 Porec World Cup and 17th at the 2010 Rovereto European Championship. OEVER was paired with the No 31 girl from qualifications Aya KAMEL.   In this 1/8 elimination round, the pair from Australia/Japan was more consistent to claim the first set 9-9-8-6 against 9-6-7-6. They increased their level in the second set (10-9-10-8) to outscore KAMEL/OEVER’s 9-6-10-6 and lead 4-0. However KAMEL shot better scores in the third set (8-6), and thanks to OEVER’s 8-10 the team total of 32 was enough to surpass INGLEY/KOIWA, who shot 6-8-9-7. KAMEL/OEVER trailed 2-4. In the last set, Australia/Japan shot 8-9-6-9, giving KAMEL/OEVER a chance to come back. They shot 9-5-9-8, OEVER’s second 9 being just called out of the 10 ring. Two set points and the subsequent victory (6-2) was attributed to INGLEY/KOIWA.   However after the match the judges awarded their opponents a 10 rather than 9 for OEVER’s last arrow. This moved the set points to 5-3. The fifth set was shot at the end of the morning session to conclude the 1/8elimination rounds. KAMEL/OEVER shot first and did 9-9-8-7, to which INGLEY/KOIWA answered with 8-8-8-10. Finally the victory (7-3) is confirmed for the latter pair!   Vanessa LOH (SIN) / Carlos RIVAS (ESP) vs Brina BOZIC (SLO) /Benjamin NOTT (AUS) The girls were shooting first in this 1/8 elimination round. LOH/RIVAS opened with 4-8-5-9, allowing BOZIC/NOTT to take the set with 10-6-7-8. Vanessa LOH kept improving (from 4-5 in the first set to 6-7 in the second). RIVAS shot 10-8, while the pair BOZIC/NOTT managed only 3-7-9-8. The score was tied at 2-2. The team from Singapore/Spain went on to win the third set (7-9-9-7 to 5-8-8-9). BOZIC/NOTT were not going to give up and scored 8-8-7-9 in the fourth set, 3 points better than their opponents (7-9-7-6). The score moved to 4-4. In the final set, Vanessa LOH had a great performance, and her team scored 9-8-9-7. BOZIC/NOTT shot 8-9-7, and the Australian archer needed no less than a perfect 10 to clinch the match on his last arrow, and so he did!   Begunhan Elif UNSAL (TUR) and Abdud DAYYAN (SIN) vs Nynne HOLDT- CASPERSEN (DEN) / Julien ROSSIGNOL (FRA) The pair from Turkey/Singapore had the best start (10-6-9-9 to 8-9-7-8) to take the lead 2-0. The scores were tight in the second set: the leading pair shot 8-8-9-10 (35) and their opponents 9-8-7-10 (34), moving the score to 4-0. The Danish/French pair took the third set (8-9-10-9 to 8-8-8-9) but made some mistakes in the next one (9-7-10-6) to lose the set 34-32 and the match 2-6 to UNSAL/DAYYAN.   Tanja SORSA (FIN) / Bolot TSYBZHITOV (RUS) vs Irina HUL (BLR) / LUO Siyue (CHN) The scores were very tight and consistent throughout the match. The pair HUL/LUO won the first set 33-31, while SORSA/TSYBZHITOV took the next one (34-33) to tie at 2-2. A heavy rain started as the archers entered the third set. The pair from Finland/Russia shot 8-9-7-9, while their opponents had one very bad arrow among great scores (10-10-5-9). This 5 prevented them from winning the set and the pairs tied at 33-33, 3-3. The archers increased their level in the fourth set to tie at 34-34 (4-4), and once more in the fifth set, 35-35 (5-5). In the shoot-off, HUL/LUO shot x10-10, putting the pressure on SORSA/TSYBZHITOV, who both shot a 9. Victory for Belarus/China!   Alexandra MIRCA (MDA) / Benjamin Hindborg IBSEN (DEN) vs Gloria FILIPPI (ITA) / Anton KAROUKIN (BLR) The pair from Italy/Belarus won the first set 6-8-8-x10 to 8-9-8-6 (32-31), but MIRCA/IBSEN came back with 10-8-8-x10 to take the second set 36-33 and tie at 2-2. The pair went on to score 9-9-9-7 in the third set, while their opponents opened with a bad 5 followed by three good scores (9-10-9). The team Moldova/Denmark led 4-2, but their opponents won the next set 37-35 to come back at 4-4. The archers shot very good arrows to conclude the match: x10-10-8-9 for FILIPPI/KAROUKIN, 9-10-9-8 for MIRCA/IBSEN. Victory 6-4 for the team Italy/Belarus!     Quarterfinals   SONG Jia (CHN) / PIANESI Lorenzo (ITA) vs Zoi PARASKEVOPOULOU (GRE) / Gregor RAJH (SLO) The rain had stopped by the time the archers started to shoot their quarterfinals. Both teams feature an archer who has qualified for the individual 1/8 elimination round: the Chinese girl and the Slovenian boy.   The team from China/Italy shot more steadily to take the first set (8-8-9-8 to 7-9-7-8) and lead 2-0. Both teams increased their level in the second set, SONG/PIANESI shot 9-9-9-8 and their opponents 10-9-6-8. The score moved to 4-0. Shooting first, PARASKEVOPOULOU/RAJH had a good third set (x10-7-8-10) which couldn’t be matched by SONG/PIANESI, who now led 4-2. The girls made the difference in the fourth set, after the boys from both teams shot 9-7: the Chinese girl shot 9-7, PARASKEVOPOULOU shot 9-10 to win the set and come back at 4-4. The pair of SONG/PIANESI shot four 8s to conclude their match, not enough to surpass the 8-8-8-8-9 by their opponents who took the match 6-4. The Greek/Slovenian pair has eliminated the team from China/Italy, two strong archery countries!   Wietse van ALTEN, 2000 Olympic Bronze Medallist Wietse van ALTEN, Athlete Role Model and coach of the Dutch team, gave us his commentaries: Today the coaches are not allowed on the field. The archers are not used to this, but it’s nice to see that they are helping each other successfully.   Miriam ALARCON (ESP) / Md. Emdad HAQUE MILON (BAN) vs Alice INGLEY (AUS) / Tsukushi KOIWA (JPN) The team of ALARCON/HAQUE MILON had the best start with 35 points, while INGLEY/KOIWA scored only 3-8-10-7 to trail 0-2. There were inconsistencies in the second set as well: 5-3-7-8 (23) for ALARCON/HAQUE MILON, 8-4-6-10 to their opponents (28). INGLEY/KOIWA made a nice come back to 2-2 and then 4-2. In the fourth set both teams shot a 6, an 8 and two 9s, moving the score to 5-3. The team from Spain/Bangladesh came back in the last set (8-9-10-9 against 6-9-8-7) to end in a draw. In the shoot-off, they scored 8-6. After Alice INGLEY shot an 8, Tsukushi KOIWA needed a 7 to win, but he probably faltered under the pressure and scored an unexpected 4. Victory for ALARCON/HAQUE MILON!   Wietse van ALTEN: All of the archers shooting in this match have qualified for the individual 1/8 elimination round, so we have two very good teams statistically saying. The girl from Australia made a strong come-back, starting with a 3 and coming back with a 10 in the first set. This is a very common thing among young archers: they can shoot very good arrows but sometimes you see bad arrows. That’s the main difference between junior and senior competition. What’s more the field is windy and the archers don’t know how to aim, how to aim off. This is part of the experience: you have to learn these things. What happened in the last arrow was very unexpected, it’s probably the pressure and the fact that these young archers are shooting for the first time in front of the audience and the cameras. I feel sorry for KOIWA, but this is also something that you learn with experience.   Brina BOZIC (SLO) /Benjamin NOTT (AUS) vs Begunhan Elif UNSAL (TUR) and Abdud DAYYAN (SIN) The first set was the best of the day so far, with BOZIC/NOTT shooting 9-10-9-9 and UNSAL/DAYYAN 10-9-10-9. The pair from Turkey/Singapore led 2-0 and then 4-0. Benjamin NOTT shot two 10s in the third set which allowed him team to come back 2-4. However UNSAL/DAYYAN won the fourth set 36-35 to take the match 6-2, to the delight of the audience.   Wietse van ALTEN: It was one of the best matches regarding scores until now, very solid shooting especially by the Turkish girl and the boy from Australia. It’s very nice to see young archer shoot so well. I am impressed. I think those are two people to watch out of in the individual finals.   Irina HUL (BLR) / LUO Siyue (CHN) vs Gloria FILIPPI (ITA) / Anton KAROUKIN (BLR) Compatriots Irina HUL and Anton KAROUKIN will compete against each other in the last quarter final. None of the archers competing in this match have qualified for the individual finals, nonetheless the level of the first set was very good. FILIPPI/KAROUKIN took the 2 set points, 37-34. The young Italian archer opened the second set with a bad 1 that gave the 2 set points to HUL/LUO. The third set was exciting, with Anton KAROUKIN shooting the final arrow at the very last second, a 9 to win the set 36-34. Italy/Belarus led 4-2. In the final set, Belarus/China shot 7-7-7-10 and were defeated by Italy/Belarus, 10-10-9-9. Victory 6-2 for FILIPPI/KAROUKIN!   Wietse van ALTEN: The winning team had a very good level with only one arrow outside of the gold. It was a 1, but still they win.     Semifinal Zoi PARASKEVOPOULOU (GRE) / Gregor RAJH (SLO) vs Miriam ALARCON (ESP) / Md. Emdad HAQUE MILON (BAN) The Greek/Slovenian pair took the first set 37-35, and the two teams tied at 35-35 in the second. PARASKEVOPOULOU/RAJH led 3-1, and then increased their lead to 5-1. The scores of the fifth set were 7-9-8-9 for ALARCON/HAQUE MILON, 8-9-10-7 for PARASKEVOPOULOU/RAJH, who won the match 7-1 and advanced to the gold medal final.   Wietse van ALTEN: RAJH is the only one who can still hope for two medals at this stage of the competition.   Begunhan Elif UNSAL (TUR) and Abdud DAYYAN (SIN) vs Gloria FILIPPI (ITA) / Anton KAROUKIN (BLR) Shooting first, UNSAL/DAYYAN scored 8-7-8-9. Just as in the last match, FILIPPI didn’t leave much time for KAROUKIN to shoot, but this pair still managed to score 9-9-7-9 to take the lead 34-32, 2-0. They were just as steady in the second set, which they won 34-31, and increased their scores in the third set (37-33) despite que fact that KAROUKIN had only 10 seconds to shoot his arrows. Easy victory 6-0 for FILIPPI/KAROUKIN who advanced to the gold medal final.   Wietse van ALTEN: The team from Turkey/Singapore showed us very different shooting than they had in the previous match. You have to find back their strenghth if you want to stay in the competition. You always have to keep fighting. Now it’s important for the team who lost to recover quickly because they have to shoot the bronze medal final.     Bronze Medal Final   Miriam ALARCON (ESP) / Md. Emdad HAQUE MILON (BAN) vs Begunhan Elif UNSAL (TUR) and Abdud DAYYAN (SIN) ALARCON/HAQUE MILON won the first set (x10-9-8-9 to 8-8-8-9) to lead 2-0. Their opponents scored a good 35, putting the pressure on the last shooter HAQUE MILON. But the young archer shot a 9 to tie and his team still led, 3-1. UNSAL/DAYYAN made an impressive come-back to tie at 3-3 and take the lead 5-3. ALARCON/HAQUE MILON had shot a 6 and 7 in the fourth set, but reacted with 10-9-x10-10 (39!) to win the fifth set and tie at 5-5. In the shoot-off, ALARCON/HAQUE MILON shot x10-9, but UNSAL/DAYYAN shot superbly under pressure: 10-10 for the bronze medal and a standing ovation from the crowd!   Wietse van ALTEN: I think three of the archers competing in this match have a Korean coach. There are no Korean archers but still the Korean coaches are making an impact on this final. The athletes are shooting without their coaches and the tension is so high that you can see all of them looking at the coaches in the stands. It was a very tight match. It’s always nice to see the young archer who don’t give up. This was a very high level finish and it promises something for the individual finals these coming days.     Gold Medal Final   Zoi PARASKEVOPOULOU (GRE) / Gregor RAJH (SLO) vs Gloria FILIPPI (ITA) / Anton KAROUKIN (BLR) The match started with a 4 from the team Greece/Slovenia that gave the first set to FILIPPI/KAROUNIN. But the former came back to win the second set 38-35 and tie at 2-2. The third set was tied (37-37) and the score moved to 3-3. Italy/Belarus took the lead in the fourth thanks to their great total of 39 points. In the final set, Greece/Slovenia shot 9-x10-8-7, opening the door for their opponents. After his team shot three 9s Anton KAROUKIN had only – as always – just a dozen seconds to shoot his last arrow, which he released at the last second. It was a 10 for the gold medal!   Wietse van ALTEN: All four archers who competed in the bronze medal final will be in the individual finals as well, while only one of the archers from the gold medal final will be there. These young archers are now facing the difficulty that the sun is on the other direction now compared to the morning session, so the optical alignment is changing throughout the day and this is one of the most difficult adjustments in archery.   The competition continues tomorrow with the Junior Men individual finals.   Vanahé ANTILLE World Archery Communication