India gets their first gold in archery

India gets their first gold in archery Delhi – 8 October 2010   After a bronze and silver yesterday, India made a come-back victory in recurve women over England in the last end. Canada got bronze. Australia won the recurve men events in the afternoon ahead of Malaysia and India, again.   Taylor proves his Worth as Australia wins Gold Australia overcame Malaysia to win the Gold medal in the Men's Team Recurve event at the Yamuna Sports Complex on Friday.   After defeating hosts India 216-211 in the semifinals, Australia added to their growing medals tally at the Delhi Games with a comprehensive 219-212 win over the Malaysia in the final.   The Australian team of Matthew GRAY (AUS), Matthew MASONWELLS (AUS) and Taylor WORTH (AUS) held a four-point lead after the third end and extended their advantage before WORTH nailed a nine with his final arrow to seal a first archery medal for the Aussies at this Games.   The result will be even sweeter for Australia as the two teams had previously met three times since 2005 with Malaysia winning all of the encounters.   India gave the home crowd something to cheer about by winning the Bronze medal against England. Facing a two-point deficit heading into the final end, England were unable to apply the pressure on India, who finished the game three points in front, 221-218.   England collapse to hand Gold to India India has pulled off a stunning one-point victory over England to win the Gold medal in the Women's Team Recurve event at the Yamuna Sports Complex on Friday.   Having held a slender lead for most of the tie, England needed to score 16 points with two arrows left to see off the Indians and continue their country's domination of the archery competition. It was not to be as Amy OLIVER (ENG) could manage only a six with her last shot and with Alison WILLIAMSON (ENG) needing a 10 off her final arrow, she hit an eight to hand India a remarkable comeback win, 207-206.   England should have comfortably closed out the match following its strong start but allowed the pressure of the vocal Indian crowd to affect their concentration.   In the Bronze medal match, Canada brushed aside a bout of sickness in its team to defeat Malaysia 202 to 192. With Alana MACDOUGALL (CAN) and Kateri VRAKKING (CAN) both suffering with a head cold, the Canadians dug deep to outshoot their opponents by 10 points, 202-192.   Here is below a recap of the matches. The format was four ends of six arrows for each team. Best total score wins. The teams has three archers who rotate after each arrow and teams actually alternate with each other after three arrows.   Recurve Men Team   Semifinal: India vs Australia India had a difficult start this afternoon with the recurve men’s semifinal. A 6 in the first and no 10s put them at a big disadvantage. Australia started really well with 10-8-9-9-10-10 and led 56-50. India was better in the second end 10-8-9-9-9-10 (55 points) but Australia also scored 55 points, 111-105. Another 6 of India in the third end did not help the India’s cause, but Australia also dropped a few points. The Australian lead was cut at 4 points, 161-157. BANERJEE/RAI/TALUKDAR finished with 9-10-9-8-9-9 (54) for a total of 211 points. GRAY/MASONWELLS/WORTH did not let go with 10-9-10-8-9-9 (55 points). The No. 4 seed Australia upset the No. 1 seed India 216-211!   Semifinal: Malaysia vs England The No. 2 seed England had the better start against the No. 3 Malaysia 55-53. Both teams scored 54 points in the second end and England kept the advantage 109-107. However, England dropped way too many points in the third end, while Malaysia turned up the heat! In order, TERRY/WILLS/GODFREY shot 9-8-8-8-8-9, while CHENG/ABDUL RAHIM/IBRAHIM PUTRA scored 10-10-8-10-10-9. The Malaysian took a commending lead 164-159. Although England shot better in the last end, a last 7 from GODFREY did not allow them to put real pressure on their opponents (9-10-9-9-10-7). Malaysia was solid with 9-9-9-9-9-8 and booked their place in the final, 217-213.   Bronze Final: England vs India After two successive team finals for gold, these two countries had to battle for bronze this time. This came to a surprise as India are the No. 1 in the world ranking and Great Britain (in fact the complete English team during these last few years) No. 8. India has met Great Britain four times in major competitions since 2004. India leads 3-1, including two victories at World Cupstage in 2010. This time India started well with 9-9-9-9-10-9 for 55 points, while England scored 9-7-9-8-9-8 for 50. The English made some ground in the second end with 8-10-10-9-9-10 (56), while the Indians scored 9-9-8-9-10-9 (54). India 109-106. TERRY/WILLS/GODFREY put pressure in the third with 9-9-10-10-10-10 (58 points), but BANERJEE/RAI/TALUKDAR responded with 10-9-9-10-10-9 (57) to keep a 2-point advantage, 166-164. England could not keep it in the yellow in the last end to continue putting pressure on their opponents (8-10-8-10-8-10). India was solid with 9-9-10-9-8-10 to take the bronze 221-218.   Gold Final: Australia vs Malaysia These two countries have met three times since 2005 and Malaysia has won all meetings! Nevertheless the team are closed in the world ranking: Australia at 15 and Malaysia at 17 and they have upset respectively India and England to reach the final. Coached by 2000 Olympic champion Simon Fairweather, Australia showed they are a truly high level team in the first end scoring 9-10-10-10-9-9 (57), while Malaysia had 10-10-7-9-8-9 (53). Malaysia did a bit better in the second end 8-9-8-9-10-10 (54), but Australia kept it above with 10-8-9-10-10-9 (56). Australia led 113-107 at the half. Both teams dropped some points in the third end (52-51), but the Australians kept a good lead, 165-158. CHENG/ABDUL RAHIM/IBRAHIM PUTRA finished with 10-8-7-10-10-9 for a total 212 points; good enough for silver. GRAY/MASONWELLS/WORTH scored 8-10-9-9-9-9 for 219 points. Australia is the new Commonwealth champion in Team Recurve Men!   Recurve Women Team   Semifinal: India vs Malaysia The first recurve semifinal joined India and Malaysia on the field. The format was four ends of six arrows for each team. Best total score wins. The teams has three archers who rotate after each arrow and teams actually alternate with each other after three arrows. These two countries have met in the compound women’s bronze final yesterday with India emerging as winner. No wind in the venue again this morning but both teams must have been nervous as India led after the first end 50-45. The Indians were also better in the second end (53-48) to take a commending lead, 103-93! India was solid in the second half scoring seven 10s (9 in totals) to win the match 213-185.   Semifinal: Canada vs England These two countries met in the compound women final yesterday and England had the upper hand. They started the match today with 50, equalled by Canada. FOLKARD shot her second 10 of the match for England to start the next end, but OLIVER followed with a 7 and WILLIAMSON with a 9. VRAKKING shot a 9 for Canada, MACDOUGALL a 7 and BEAUDET a 9. England finished the second end with 8-8-7, while Canada scored 9-9-9 to take the lead 102-99 at the half! OLIVER and WILLIAMSON seemed to find their rhythm in the third end with England shooting 8-9-9-7-10-10, while Canada had 9-6-8-9-7-9. England turned the score around, 152-150. It was now the turn of Canada to shoot first and VRAKKING/MACDOUGALL/BEAUDET scored 8-8-7-8-10-9; not enough to put pressure on England. FOLKARD/OLIVER/WILLIAMSON finished with 10-9-9-9-9-10 to make their way to the final, 208-201.   Bronze Final: Malaysia vs Canada Two players of these teams will have a chance at an individual medal on Sunday (Kateri VRAKKING for Canada and Anbarasi SUBRAMANIAM for Malaysia), but of course they would prefer to get one now. Canada took a small lead in the first end 50-49. The score was exactly the opposite in the second and teams were tied at 99-99. Canada took again a small lead in the third end (51-49), 150-148. ABDUL HALIM/SUI KIM/SUBRAMANIAM finished with 8-8-8-6-7-7 (44 points). VRAKKING/MACDOUGALL/BEAUDET could cruise to the bronze medal with 7-10-9-10-8-9. Second medal of the archery competition for Canada, 202-192!   Gold Final: India vs England England has reached its third team final in a row and their compound men beat India for gold yesterday. Great Britain, the team for which FOLKARD/OLIVER/WILLIAMSON usually shoot, have met six times India in major archery events since 2004. They are even with three victories each. England had the better start with 9-8-9-7-9-10, while India scored 9-8-9-6-8-8. The Indians trailed 48-52. LAISHRAM/KUMARI/BANERJEE, shooting in this order, had some work ahead to come back in this game. India made some ground at the beginning of the second end with 8-9-9-9, while England had 7-8-7-8. However India finished with 9-8, while England scored 10-10. The English still led 102-99. The Indians could not touch the 10 ring again in the third end (9-9-8-9-9-8), while England added two more 10s (7-10-10-9-8-8). England had again a 3-point advantage 154-151. India finally found their rhythm at the beginning of the last end with 9-10-9, but England kept it on track with 10-9-10. . LAISHRAM/KUMARI/BANERJEE concluded with 9-9-10. FOLKARD/OLIVER/WILLIAMSON fell apart with 9-6-8 under the pressure from the crowd! India got a come-back victory 207-206 with the last three arrows! Silver for England, gold for India!   Didier MIEVILLE / Commonwealth Games GNS World Archery Communication