MOHAMAD and ZAMANINEJAD confirm they are world class archers

MOHAMAD and ZAMANINEJAD confirm they are world class archers Tehran (IRI) – 23 October 2011   The individual titles were awarded this week-end at the Asian Archery Championships in Tehran. K. A. MOHAMAD (MAS), who burst into the front scene this Autumn, and Reza ZAMANINEJAD (IRI), who have been among the top archers for a long while, took well deserved titles on the men’s side. YANG Nien-Hsiu (TPE) and Maryam RANJBAR (IRI) were surprising winners in the women’s competitions.   Photo (C) Dean ALBERGA: MOHAMAD (IRI) at the Shanghai World Cup Recurve Men Seeded No. 2 Khairul Anuar MOHAMAD (MAS) had to survive two shoot-offs in the 1/8 and 1/16 eliminations, respectively against Witthaya THAMWONG (THA) and Rahmat SULISTIAWAN (INA). However, his other matches showed true domination: 6 set points to 0 in the first round versus Dhendup YESHEY (BHU), 6-2 in the quarterfinals against Milad VAZIRI (IRI), 6-2 in the semifinal over the No. 3 seed Hiroki SUETAKE (JPN) and 6-2 in the final against another Japanese Hideki KIKUCHI.   HSIEH Chung-Hao (TPE) won bronze against SUETAKE 7-1. Recurve archers shoot matches with five sets of three arrows. Two set points are won in each set; hence the first athlete to 6 set points wins the match.   Recurve Women The No. 1 seed Ren HAYAKAWA (JPN) was stopped in the semifinal by the No. 5 seed Zhara DEHGHANABNAVI (IRI) 4-6. The Japanese athlete won the bronze against Chuluun OYUNSUREN (MGL) 7-1.   DEHGHANABNAVI could not bring another gold medal to the hosts. She lost the final against the No. 15 seed YANG Nien-Hsiu (TPE) 3-7.   Compound Men The No. 1 seed Reza ZAMANINEJAD (IRI) had to go through a shoot-off in his quarterfinal against CHOI Yong Hee (KOR). The match ended at 144-144 (15 arrows with cumulative scoring). In the shoot-off, they both scored a 9 but ZAMANINEJAD was the closest to the centre. Then he defeated the No. 4 seed MIN Lihong (KOR) 147-146 and Muhammad Zaki MAHAZAN (MAS) 146-138.   MIN won the bronze over the young Jignas CHITTIBOMMA (IND) 143-140.   Compound Women The No. 8 seed Maryam RANJBAR (IRI) won a shoot-off versus the No. 1 seed and teammate Shabnam SARLAK. Both archers scored 139 points in the match and a 9 in the tie-break but RANJBAR was the closest to the centre. She then defeated Manjudha SOY (IND) 143-138 and the No. 2 seed LEE Hyun Jeong (KOR) 139-135 to take the gold medal.   KWON Oh Hyang (KOR) won the bronze medal against SOY after a tie-break: 140-140, T10-T9.   The continental Olympic qualifier tournament will be played on 24 October.   World Archery Communication