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Mission Im-possible, Oh yes!

London (GBR)

Only the top seed Im Dong Hyun  did not get through, conceding a 7-1 defeat against European Champion Rick van der Ven . Oh Jin Hyek  and Kim Bubmin  had straightforward win for their part, over Rafal Dobrowolski  and 15-year old Dan Olaru  respectively.

In quarterfinal, the second ranked archer Kim will face Dai Xiaoxiang , No. 7, who put an end to the Australian Taylor Worth's brilliant run after a shoot-off. Seeded No. 3, Oh will go against defending Olympic Champion Viktor Ruban , after the latter defeated the only Frenchman remaining, Gael Prevost , 6-4.  

After his upset over Im, the Dutchman van der Ven will have another Asian contender in his quarterfinal match, with Kuo Cheng-Wei , who easily defeated Ruban's teammate Markiyan Ivashko , 6-0. The fourth quarterfinal will put Khairul Anuar Mohamad  and Takaharu Furukawa  against each other.

Mohamad, who finished third at the Olympic Test Event last year, killed off the home country's last hope for a medal after he beat No. 4 Larry Godfrey  in a tie-break. Furukawa, ranked fifth, had a 6-2 win over Baard Nesteng .  

Read all match reviews:

Men – 1/8 Eliminations  

Khairul Anuar MOHAMAD  (20) / Larry GODREY  (4)  

Seeded fourth, Godfrey thrived in front of his home crowd as he sailed through the first two rounds against Md Emdadul Haque Milon  and Juan Rene Serrano  6-0 and 7-1. Mohamad finished third at the Test Event in October.  

Starting with two 9s, Godfrey could have clinched the first set with a 10 at his third arrow. But he shot a seven and let the first two set points go to his opponent (25-27) and trailed 0-2.  

The Briton then recorded all three arrows in the gold (9-10-9), but he could only tie the second set as his opponent also scored 28 points to lead 3-1.  

Godrey then managed to improve his score with 29. Winning the third set, he levelled up the match at 3-3. On the right track, he then won his second set in a row 28-26, taking advantage of an eight by his opponent at his third arrow. Godfrey took the lead for the first time of the match 5-3.  

Mohamad recovered his best shooting at the beginning of the final set, scoring two 10s followed by an eight. With 28 points, he forced his opponent to a shoot-off winning this set 28-26.  

Shooting first, Godrey recorded a nine in the tie-break, but which was not sufficient, as his opponent from Malaysia released a perfect shot. And the only remaining local representative out!  

Takaharu FURUKAWA  (5) / Baard NESTENG  (21)  

Nesteng is a surprise entrant in the 1/8 elimination round after beating Hideki Kikuchi  and team silver medallist Jacob Wukie . But he faces the fifth seed Furukawa.  

The Japanese started with all three arrows in the gold ring (9-10-9) to win the first set 28-26 and take the lead 2-0. He repeated with 28 again to increase his advantage, 4-0.  

Furukawa went out of the gold two times in the third set and let his opponent from Norway stay in the match, 4-2.  

Two 6s at his second and third arrows in the fourth set were Nesteng's undoing. He lost the set 21-27 and the match 2-6.  

Markiyan IVASHKO  (24) / KUO Cheng-Wei  (40)  

Ivashko and Kuo were handed favourable draws when their opponents in the 1/16 elimination round knocked out highly ranked players. They are both two-time Olympian.  

The Ukrainian, who finished second at this year's World Cup in Antalya, lost the first set 25-27 and trailed 0-2. The two archers then improved by one point in the second set, 26-28, and Kuo doubled his advantage 4-0.  

The competitor from Chinese Taipei clinched a convincing straight sets victory, 6-0, after winning the third set 28-27.  

IM Dong Hyun  (1) / Rick VAN DER VEN  (16)  

European Champion van der Ven has lost only one set in the competition but comes up against ranking round world record holder and top seed.  

Showing very strong shooting, the Dutchman scored 9-10-10 to win the first set and lead against the world No. 2 by 2-0.  

The Korean had a difficult first arrow in the second set, a seven, but he followed with two perfect shots to score 27 points. His opponent also recorded 27 with three nines. The set was a draw, and van der Ven kept the lead, 3-1.  

Whereas the Dutchman repeated with the same score of 27, Im shot another arrow on the left, again a seven, and let the set go. He trailed 1-5, and we were close to a huge upset.  

Stunning performance by van der Ven, who scored 29 in the fourth set to clinch a huge victory 7-1! In this match, he had all arrows but one in the gold ring.  

OH Jin Hyek  (3) / Rafal DOBROWOLSKI  (14)  

Third-ranked Oh performed well to remove in-form Luis Alvarez  in the 1/16 elimination round. As he just saw his teammate Im Dong Hyun being upset in the previous match, the Korean will certainly be very keen to do a better performance.  

Oh made the best start with 28 points and led 2-0. He repeated the same score in the second set to increase his advantage, 4-0.  

With 28 points for the third time in a row, the Korean clinched a straight three sets victory 6-0, staying in the hunt for his country's first men's individual gold medal in archery.  

Viktor RUBAN  (43) / Gael PREVOST  (6)  

Ruban, the gold medallist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, seems to have found form again after struggling to 43rd in the ranking round. He faces Prevost, who ranked sixth, and beat teammate Thomas Faucheron  in the 1/16 elimination round.  

The Ukrainian won the first set by one point, 28-27, to take the lead 2-0. His opponent from France recorded the same score of 27 in the second set, but this time it was enough against 26 by Ruban. Prevost tied the match at 2-2.  

Whereas the Frenchman repeated with 27 for the third time, Ruban improved, shooting close to perfection with 29. The Olympic Champion recovered his lead, 4-2. But as in the second set, he then again shot an arrow out of the gold, an eight, and lost the set 27-28. There was a draw 4-4 with one set to go!  

RUBAN started the final set with a seven, thus leaving a door open. Prevost needed to hit the gold to win, but he it was his turn to score a seven and he lost the match (4-6). The Olympic Champion is still in the race to defend his title!  

DAI Xiaoxiang  (7) / Taylor WORTH  (23)  

Worth performed exceptionally to beat world No. 1 Brady ELLISON (USA) for the third time in his career. He faces another top seed in this round, seventh seed Dai.  

The Australian once again showed strong shooting, starting with 28 points in the first set. He took the lead 2-0. His second arrow of the second set veered on the right, however, to hit the six-ring. Worth lost this set 25-28, and the match was a draw 2-2.

As the two athletes recorded their second 28-point set of the match, they shared the two set points at stake and the tie remained, 3-3.  

Another stunning performance by Worth, who replied to Dai's 28 points in the fourth set, with a 29 series. The Australian was only one set point away from victory with one set to go.  

The Chinese recorded his fourth 28-point set of the match in the final set. With 10 and nine, his opponent needed to hit the gold ring to at least tie the set and win the match. But Wworth missed his chance with an eight. Shoot-off!  

Shooting first, Dai put his tie-break arrow in the nine-ring, very close to the 10. Worth could not withstand pressure this time and lost it all with an eight.  

Dan OLARU  (47) / KIM Bubmin  (2)  

Olaru, a 15-year-old schoolboy, faces second seed Kim, who almost suffered a shock exit when Robert Elder  had an arrow to beat him in the 1/32 elimination round.  

Experience spoke in the first two sets, Kim shooting two times 28 points, against two times 26 for his young opponent. The Korean had a comfortable advantage 4-0 after two sets.  

Kim seemed to have victory in hand but he released an eight at his third arrow in the third set and only tied the set, 26-26. Olaru scored his first set point of the game, but was one point away from defeat, 1-5.  

Olaru was very consistent, recording 26 points for the fourth time of the match, but he was a cut below his opponent, who clinched victory 7-1 with his third 28-point set.

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