Two more golds for India!

Two more golds for India! Delhi – 10 October 2010   The young upraising star Deepika KUMARI, 16 years old, was brilliant when she clinched her second gold medal of the Games. Rahul BANERJEE brought another gold for India in the recurve men category in the afternoon!   KUMARI finished her final with 10-10-10 on a historical date for her, 10/10/’10! Five times Olympian Alison WILLIAMSON (ENG) was 2nd and India’s anchor Dola BANERJEE 3rd! Dola’s brother Rahul survived three shoot-offs in the afternoon session to bring another gold for India and the family (Dola won gold in the team event). Jay LYON (CAN), who shot superbly today, earned silver, while Jayanta TALUKDAR completed the Indian triumph with his bronze medal.   Indian teen star Kumari sweeps aside England's Williamson for Gold Sixteen-year-old Deepika KUMARI (IND) has won archery gold for India in the recurve individual women's event, outclassing Alison WILLIAMSON (ENG) 6-0 in the final at the Yamuna Sports Complex on Sunday.   The teen sensation had too much quality for the no.6 seed WILLIAMSON marching to a straight sets win to claim India's first individual archery gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Having earlier knocked out Dola BANERJEE (IND) in the semifinal to prevent an all Indian final, WILLIAMSON was unable to reproduce the same form in the final as KUMARI nailed a perfect final set score of 30 to clinch the tie. The win completes a memorable Games for the 16-year-old KUMARI, who had previously beaten WILLIAMSON and her English teammates in the final of the Team event on Friday.   BANERJEE (IND) won the bronze medal, beating out Malaysia's Anbarasi SUBRAMANIAM (MAS) 6-2 in four sets. Despite taking the first set, SUBRAMANIAM hit a low score of three in her first arrow of the third set and never recovered, allowing BANERJEE to win three consecutive sets to take home the bronze.   Banerjee's golden shot clinches title in sudden death shoot-off Rahul BANERJEE (IND) produced a golden shot to win the men's individual recurve by defeating Jason LYON (CAN) 6-5 after a single arrow sudden death shootoff at the Yamuna Sports Complex on Sunday.   LYON made a solid start as he attempted to silence the passionate Indian support for the No.1 seed BANERJEE. The Canadian matched his opponent's score of 27 with three consecutive nines to tie the first set.   He then stormed ahead, taking the next two sets as BANERJEE struggled to find his rhythm. But the Indian struck back to win the final two sets 28-26, 27-26 and  leave the match tied at 5-5 . It left the contest to be decided by a single arrow with the closest to the centre being the winner. LYON could only manage an eight when he shot first and BANERJEE nailed a nine to clinch the gold medal to the delight of the largely Indian crowd.   Jayanta TALUKDAR (IND) claimed the bronze medal by beating the veteran Matthew GRAY (AUS) 6-4. Following the disappointment of his sudden-death defeat by TALUKDAR's compatriot BANERJEE (IND) in the semifinal, GRAY threw everything he had at the No. 2 seed but came up narrowly short.   Complete recap of the matches Here is a recap of the matches. The recurve individual finals consist of quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. The remaining eight archers of the Compound Men and Women events will compete in the final matches. In individual finals matches, archers shoot alternately up to five sets of three arrows in 20 seconds per arrow. Each set worth two points for a win, one point for a tie. The first archer who reaches 6 sets points win the match. The higher placed archer in the ranking round will decide who shoots first in the first end of each match, and then the archer with the lowest set points score will shoot first in each following end. If the scores tie, the archer who shot first in the first end will shoot first. If the tie persists after the fifth set in finals rounds, a single arrow shoot off will be shot and the athlete with the arrow closest to the centre will win.   Recurve Men   Quarterfinal: Rahul BANERJEE (IND) vs Mat MASONWELLS (AUS) First quarterfinal of the afternoon session. MASONWELLS, who won the team title with Australia two days ago, had the best start with 8-10-9, while BANERJEE had 9-8-9. The No. 1 seed Indian nevertheless quickly tied the match at 2 set points to 2, with 10-10-9 in the second set, while MASONWELLS had 9-8-9. The Australian continued the third set with 9-9-9, but Dola’s brother, Rahul, shot 9-10-9 to take a 4-2 lead. MASONWELLS reacted strongly and with a little bit of luck when he shot three (!) liners 10 in the fourth set to tie it at 4-4. The fifth set was going to be intense! MASONWELLS started it with a 7. BANERJEE had a 9, MASONWELLS a 9 or 10 on the line, BANERJEE had an 8, MASONWELLS an 8. BANERJEE had the door opened but failed to take it with a 7. MASONWELLS second arrow was indeed a 9. Tied set (24-24), tied match and shoot-off! MASONWELLS shot a good 9. BANERJEE raised his bow and kept it cool under pressure this time with a 10!   Quarterfinal: Matthew GRAY (AUS) vs CHENG Chu Sian (TPE) The second Australian on the field this afternoon did not have the best start with 8-8-8. CHENG was slightly better with 10-8-7. Both archers raised their level in the second set. GRAY had 10-9-9, while the Malaysian had 9-9-9. Score was tied at 2 set points each. GRAY continued with 9-9-10 to take another set, CHENG scoring 8-9-8. The No. 4 seed from Malaysia fought back with 10-9-9, while the Australian did 8-7-10. Another match tied at 4 set point to 4 and going to the fifth set! Moreover, the wind suddenly started to blow harder, still with North-East direction. GRAY shot a 9, CHENG a 7(!), GRAY a 7(!), CHENG an 8, GRAY an 8, leaving the door opened for CHENG who could have won it with a 10 or tied it with a 9. The Malaysian scored a 7; GRAY qualified for the semifinal!   Quarterfinal: Jay LYON (CAN) vs Larry GODFREY (ENG) The Canadian started with 10-9-8, but GODFREY tied it with 9-8-10. The English took the second set 28-26, but dropped some points in the third, 24-26. Match was tied at 3-3. LYON shot well in the third with 10-9-10, while GODFREY 8-8-10. TheCanadian had match point, leading 5-3. The English athlete started the fifth set with a pair of liners 9, while the Canadian had 10-9. GODFREY could not put pressure on his opponent with an 8 to conclude his match. LYON shot another 10 and took a spot in the semifinal.   Quarterfinal: Simon TERRY (ENG) vs Jayanta TALUKDAR (IND) The clash of these quarterfinals truly was this match with two of the recent Archery World Cup finalists in Edinburgh. TERRY is the No. 8 in the world and TALUKDAR the No. 4! He took the 3rd rank at the Final. He started the match with 10-8-and a liner 10, while TERRY had 9-9-9. TALUKDAR 2-0. Both archers then started the second set with two 9s, but the English finished it with a 7, while the Indian scored 9. TALUKDAR 4-0. Almost the same story in the third set. Both archers shot a pair of 9s. TERRY finished with an… 8, but TALUKDAR also shot an 8. TALUKDAR led 5-1 and needed one more set point to win. Both archers started the fourth set with a 10 and a 9. TERRY concluded with a 9. TALUKDAR did not let go his chance this time and scored a 10. Victory 7-1 and a place in the semifinal!   Semifinal: Rahul BANERJEE (IND) vs Matthew GRAY (AUS) GRAY gave away the first set, but come back in the second with 10-9-10 to tie it at 2-2. The Australian continued shooting first with a 9 in the second set. BANERJEE had an 8. GRAY scored a 7. BANERJEE had a 10! GRAY finished with a 9, but BANERJEE scored 9 to take the set (27-26). The No. 27 in the world Australian started the fourth set with a 10, equalled by the No. 15 in the world Indian. GRAY had another 10, BANERJEE a 9. GRAY a 9, and BANERJEE an 8. GRAY took that set and the match was tied a 4 set points each! GRAY started the fifth set with an 8 and Dola’s brother took a slight advantage of it with a 9. GRAY shot an 8 again. BANERJEE shot a 9 again. GRAY put pressure with a 10! BANERJEE shot only an 8 and went to his second shoot-off the day! GRAY shot first as he had to do the whole match. He shot a 7. He made it easy for Rahul who shot another 8 and ensure the second medal of the day for the BANERJEE family.   Semifinal: Jay LYON (CAN) vs Jayanta TALUKDAR (IND) The No. 3 seed LYON played the No. 2 seed TALUKDAR and had the better start with 10-9-10, while the Indian shot 8-9-8 (set 29-25). TALUKDAR made a couple more mistakes in the second set with a 6 and a 7. He finished with a 10, but the set was long gone with LYON scoring 10-9-9 (set 28-23). He led 4-0. TALUKDAR shot an 8 to start the third set. LYON shot a 9. TALUKDAR shot a 10, but LYON equaled it! TALUKDAR finished with a 9. LYON took the opportunity with a last 10 (set 29-27). The Canadian upset the crowd (and experts) favorite 6-0!   Bronze Final: Matthew GRAY (AUS) vs Jayanta TALUKDAR (IND) These two archers have met only once : in Porec 2006, where TALUKDAR had his first big win at the international level, beating Gray on the way during the 1/8 elimination round. TALUKDAR just came out of a troubled semifinal, but he started this bronze final on fire with 10-10-10. GRAY was close to it with 10-10-9 but trailed 0-2. GRAY tried to put pressure in the second set with a 10. He then shot a 9 and an 8 that was just “out”. TALUKDAR started with an 8 but recovered with a 10 and a 9. Split set; TALUKDAR 3-1. A 6 (and a 9-10) from the Indian in the third set helped GRAY to tie the match at 3-3, scoring 8-9-10. The level went very high in the fourth set! Both archers shot a 10. Then TALUKDAR shot a 9, and GRAY a 10! However TALUKDAR shot a 10 to conclude the set, while GRAY had 8 (Set 29-28). TALUKDAR led 5-3! GRAY shot 8-9-9 in the fifth, while TALUKDAR started with 10 and 8, leaving himself with an 8 to tie the set and win the match! He just got a liner 8. Bronze for TALUKDAR, another medal for India!   Gold Final: Rahul BANERJEE (IND) vs Jay LYON (CAN) BANERJEE is the No. 15 in the world, while LYON has made a great come back on the international scene for these Commonwealth Games. He was still a long shot entering the competition as he currently lays at No. 76 in the world. He nevertheless qualified at the No. 3 spot on Monday. The first set was split after LYON scored 9-9-9 and BANERJEE 9-10-8. LYON had the upper hand in the second set with 10-10-9, while BANERJEE did 8-9-10. The Indian scored 9-9-10 in the third, but the Canadian kept shooting superbly with 10-10-9 and took a commending 5-1 lead in the match! BANERJEE stayed alive in the fourth set with 10-9-9, while LYONS had 10-8-8 but kept a 5-3 advantage. BANERJEE scored 9-9-9 in the fifth, while LYONS shot a liner 9, and 8. For the second time in the match, he needed a 10 to close it but ended just out in the 9-ring. Shoot-off! It was the third shoot-off of the afternoon for Dola’s brother! LYON shot a low 8, opening the door. BANERJEE shot a liner 9, enough for gold! Second medal for the BANERJEE family today (bronze and gold) and second gold for India!   Recurve Women   Quarterfinal: Deepika KUMARI (IND) vs Alexandra FEENEY (AUS) The No. 8 seed and still young archer FEENEY (AUS) had some troubles to start the first match of the day, especially since the wind conditions were more difficult than the previous days. On her side, KUMARI is only 16 years old, but she has been on fire since September with a 2nd place in Shanghai and participation at the World Cup Final in Edinburgh. KUMARI won the qualifications in Delhi; hence she is the No. 1 seed here. She won the match 6-0 (27-22, 28-21, 28-26).   Quarterfinal: Anbarasi SUBRAMANIAM (MAS) vs Vanessa LOH (SIN) Both archers were closed to one another as SUBRAMANIAM took the first set 26-25, and they tied the second 26-26. The 2010 Youth Olympian in her own country, LOH, took advantage of some mistakes from the Malaysian archer to take the third set 26-21. However SUBRAMANIAM raised her level to take the advantage again in the fourth, 28-22 and led 5 set points to 3. In the fifth set, both archers started with 8-9. Then LOH let go a 7 with her last arrow. SUBRAMANIAM finished with a 10 to take the set and the match, 7-3.   Quarterfinal: Kateri VRAKKING (CAN) vs Alison WILLIAMSON (ENG) With five Olympic Games behind her, WILLIAMSON is one the most experienced archer on earth (the only other active woman archer who competed in the 1992 Games is the Italian Natalia VALEEVA). That was definitely a factor in this match as WILLIAMSON beat VRAKKING 6-0 (26-23, 25-23, 29-24).   Quarterfinal: Ami OLIVER (ENG) vs Dola BANERJEE (IND) The Indian ace BANERJEE met the young OLIVER for a second time this week, after the team final on Thursday. OLIVER made a couple of mistakes, on which BANERJEE capitalize in the first two sets. OLIVER managed to tie the third set with a 9 liner, while BANERJEE tied the fourth set, shooting a solid 9. In front of a respectfully cheering crowd, BANERJEE won the match 6-2 (27-24, 27-23, 26-26, 26-26).   Semifinal: Deepika KUMARI (IND) vs Anbarasi SUBRAMANIAM (MAS) The second Indian athlete KUMARI started her semifinal very well with 10-9-9, two more points than SUBRAMANIAN. The Malaysian archer did not help her cause, when she opened the second set with a 7 and a 6, followed by an 8. KUMARI shot 8-10-10 to take a 4-0 lead. SUBRAMANIAM started the third set on a better a fashion with a bull’s-eye, while KUMARI shot a 9. They both continued with an 8. Then the Malaysian shot an 8, opening the door for KUMARI. The Indian athlete partly took the opportunity. She shot a 9 to tie set and keep a comfortable lead in the match 5-1. The Malaysian athlete definitely lost it when she began the fourth set with a 2. KUMARI concluded with 9-8-8 and booked herself a place in the final, 7-1!   Semifinal: Alison WILLIAMSON (ENG) vs Dola BANERJEE (IND) BANERJEE shot a strong 10 at the end of the first set to win it 27-24. However, the Indian scored a 7 at the beginning of the second set, allowing WILLIAMSON to come back with 9-9-10. The match was tied at 2 set points each. The wind started to blow harder and harder during the match (left to right, North-East direction). Both archers started the third set with a 7 and a 6. Then WILLIAMSON scored a 9 that could not be matched by BANERJEE’s 8. The English archer led 4-2. The Indian stroke back in the fourth set with 10-9, while her opponent had 9-8. However Dola scored a 7 with her last arrow, letting with WILLIAMSON the chance to win the match with a 10. The crowd was holding its breath, while WILLIAMSON raised her bow, shot and got a liner 10 to win the set (27-26) and the match, 6-2!   Bronze medal: Anbarasi SUBRAMANIAM (MAS) vs Dola BANERJEE (IND) The 30 year old, No. 10 in the world and No. 2 seed in the tournament BANERJEE was the favourite against SUBRAMANIAN, who is 27 years old, No. 67 in the world (she was as high as 28 in her career) and 5th in the qualifications on Monday. These two archers met twice before in major competitions and BANERJEE won the two encounters. Nevertheless SUBRAMANIAN won the first set 25-23. She could not quite keep it up in the second and third set with 8-6-9 and 2-9-10. In the meantime, BANERJEE scored 10-9-8 and 9-8-9 to take a 4-2 lead in the match. In the fourth set, the Malaysian archer started with an 8. BANERJEE shot a 9. SUBRAMANIAN shot an 8. The Indian scored an 8. SUBRAMANIAN could not put pressure with her last arrow scoring a 7. BANERJEE shot a 9 to win the set and the bronze medal, 6-2!   Gold medal: Deepika KUMARI (IND) vs Alison WILLIAMSON (ENG) WILLIAMSON is a five times Olympian who won the individual bronze medal at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. She is currently the No. 30 in the world. KUMARI is 16 years old and has surged to the 4th place in the world ranking in recent monthes, notably with a 2nd place at the Shanghai World Cup stage in September and a 1st place at the Bangkok Grand Prix at the beginning of the year. She was the cadet world champion at the Youth World Championships Ogden 2009. She won the qualifications and she is the No. 1 seed in the tournament. They have met at the World Cup stage in Antalya this year and KUMARI won.   WILLIAMSON had a shaky start with 8-8 but finished the first set with a 10. KUMARI started with two 9s, letting with the chance of getting another 9 to clinch the first set. She caught a liner 9 and led 2-0. Alison was not much better in the second set with 9-8-8, while Deepika was strong with 9-10-9 and increased her lead at 4-0. WILLIAMSON scored 9-9-7 in the third set. The young upraising star KUMARI was brilliant with 10-10-10 on a historical date for her, 10/10/’10! She clinched her second gold medal of the Games, 6-0!

  Didier MIEVILLE / Commonwealth Games GNS World Archery Communication