“India! India!” cheered the fans

“India! India!” cheered the fans Delhi – 6 October 2010   Today the team eliminations took place at Yamuna Sports Complex. India received a strong boost from a large crowd to qualify their four teams in the semifinals.   In archery, the fans came in large numbers to fill the Yamuna Sports Complex and cheer loudly for the Indian teams! What an atmosphere!!   Like the Indian hosts, the English teams of the four categories will play as well in the semifinals. Malaysia qualified three teams (only missed out in compound men), while Australia and Canada got two. South Africa completed the line-up.   Recurve Team Summary India will face Australia in an intriguing semifinal tie on Friday after surging past Sri Lanka 213-205 in the Men's Team Recurve event. The Australians were made to work for their spot in the last four, outlasting Canada 218-216 after being behind for most of the match.   The English team came up against a determined Cyprus team and called on all their experience to prevail 218-209 in their tie. They face a tricky task against Malaysia who were impressive in their win over Bangladesh.   The Australians were not so fortunate in the Women's event, losing by four points to Canada who will now face England for a place in the Gold medal match. India remain the favourites for the event and should be able to get past Malaysia, who defeated Singapore 205-200.   More details are below.   Compound Team Summary Backed by a chorus of local cheers, India secured a nail-biting victory against Australia in the Women's Team Compound event after Jhano HANSDAH (IND) finished the tie with four consecutive tens.   India will need to find their best form in the seimifinals if they are to beat Canada, who were bouyed by the consistent shooting of Doris JONES (CAN) to surge past Wales 223-222.   England will be confident of a place in the final after getting past New Zealand 227-221 and will face Malaysia on Thursday.   The Indian men completed a successful day for the host nation, edging out New Zealand by one point in the Men's Team Compound event. They will face a tough task in South Africa next, led by in-form  archer Septimus CILLIERS (RSA). England and Australia will do battle in the other semifinal, after knockout out Northern Ireland and Malaysia respectively.   More details are below.   Competition format   The team eliminations rounds consist of 1/8 and 1/4. Each team will consist of three archers. The matches for team eliminations are drawn by a team match-play chart, which is ranked according to the results of the qualification round of the 70 metre Round (competition day 1). Each elimination round consists of number of head-to-head matches from which the winning team advance to the next round. In team elimination matches, the teams shoot 4x6 arrows in two minutes at 70 metre on a 122 centimetre target face, simultaneously. The archers are free to choose the order of shooting. In case of a bye, teams will be allowed to shoot in their own target, but no score will be recorded or allowed to be displayed.   In case of a tie, teams shoot one end of three (3) arrows each in a sudden death shoot-off until one team wins. The best score is used as the tiebreak on the first extra end or, if tied again, on the second extra end. If a third end is necessary, the closest arrow (measurement) of the end to the centre of the target decides the winning team. If the closest arrow is tied, there will be a comparison of the second closest arrow for both teams. If the second closest arrow again ties, the third closest arrow will be compared. If the third closest arrow still ties, teams will shoot one more three-arrow end for score (and if tied, for closest to centre arrow etc. as above).   Recurve Men In the 1/8 elimination round, Scotland had a 4-point lead over Sri Lanka after 12 arrows. However India’s neighbour kept fighting hard while Scotland were nearly not as efficient in the second half. Sri Lanka reversed the score 150-149, 199-197! Northern Ireland also led Cyprus 107-106 halfway through. However Cyprus scored a very nice 110 points in the second half. They took the advantage 160-158 and won the match 216-213.   Cyprus started their quarterfinals against England very well with end of 54 and 55! They led the mighty English team 109-107! However a 5 and three 7s in the third end cut Cyprus momentum (45 points on the end), while England had 56. GODFREY-WILLS-TERRY led 163-154 and won it 218-209. The No. 1 seed India also got in some trouble against Sri Lanka, who led 55-53 after six arrows. India nevertheless managed to progressively pull out of his opponent: 103-102, 157-153, 213-205. The Indians will play the Australians photo for the semifinals on Friday. The latter had a come-back victory over the Canada. GRAY-MASONWELLS-WORTH trailed DUENAS-LYON-MACDONALD 51-57 and 106-111. However, the Australians scored 57 points in the third end, while the Canadians had 52. Scores were tied at 163-163. Canada finished with a 53; not enough to break the momentum of Australia who scored 55 and clinched the victory 218-216! Finally, the No. 3 seed Malaysia beat Bangladesh 218-201 and will play England on Friday.   Recurve Women In quarterfinals, Malaysia photo took an early lead over Singapore after six arrows, 52-48. They increased it at 106-101 and kept it until the end: 157-152, 205-200. Australia had a 1-point lead over Canada halfway through the match, 52-51, then 103-102. However, the Canadians scored 53 points in the third end, while the Australians had 48 points. Canada then led 155-151 and the Aussies could not come back in the fourth end. Final score 205-201. Malaysia will play India and Canada will play England during semifinals on Friday.   Compound Men The No. 7 Namibia kept surprising the archery world by beating the No. 10 Wales in the 1/8 elimination round. The score evolution was 56-57, 113-113, 171-166, 226-221. The No. 12 Malaysia upset the No. 5 Canada 58-55, 115-115, 173-168, 230-225. The No. 6 India beat the No. 11 Trinidad & Tobago 55-54, 109-108, 166-162 and 224-219.   The crowd turned the noise up one more notch during the quarterfinals. The Indian performance was lifted by the cheering of the fans to take out New Zealand and the like of world bronze medallist Stephen CLIFTON, World Cup winner in Shanghai Shaun TEASDALE and Anthony WADDICK. The Indian team of CHATTERJEE-CHITTIBOMMA-SRITHER were neck-to-neck with NewZealand the whole match but managed to finish on top: 56-55, 113-113, 170-168 and 226-225! India will play the No. 1 seed South Africa in the semifinals tomorrow afternoon. The South African beat the Namibians 234-228 photo. In the other part of the draw England beat Northern Ireland 232-224 and Australia defeated Malaysia 232-220.   Compound Women Three of the four quarterfinals were extremely close after three ends! Canada and Wales were tied at 168-168, England had a slight lead over New Zealand 170-168 and India photo had just a 1-point margin over Australia 169-168. In the fourth end, the English BROWN-SIMPSON-HUNT pulled away from COSKERY-MITCHELL-McGREGOR with a 57-point end for a final score of 227-221. The No. 1 seed Canada managed to salvage a 1-point victory over Wales, 223-222. The Canadians will play the Indians in the semifinal! The No. 5 Indians were lifted by the crowd over the No. 4 Australians 227-220. Finally, Malaysia beat Scotland 227-216 and will play England tomorrow morning in the semifinals.   Team compound medals will be awarded tomorrow!     Didier MIEVILLE World Archery Communication