Leipzig “LIVE” – Team Recurve Elimination Matches (Olympic Qualifications)

 
RECURVE WOMEN   1/8 final: USA (seed 11) - Italy (seed 6)
Italy suffered up to the very last arrow in this very important match qualifier for the Olympics… The two teams were tied after the first end at 55 points each. Italy then took a 2-point advantage on the score of 107-105. Taking advantage of a 3 shot by USA with their last arrow in the third end, the Italian ladies increased their lead to ten points with 6 arrows to go (155-145). The last arrows of the match were nerve-racking for the Italian fans, as their team’s last arrow was a 4… But finally, their advantage proved enough and they clinched the match and three Olympic spots by 203-198. 1/8 final: DPR Korea (13) – Great Britain (4)  The match between DPR Korea and Great Britain led to an unexpected shoot-off. The afternoon started in a bad way for the British ladies who were behind 96-101 and then 146-150. They came back to tie the match at 197 after the 24 regular arrows. Tied again after the first additional arrow (7-7), the two teams were staying very close to one another. The second shoot-off arrow was certainly the decisive one, as Ri and Williamson both shot an arrow that was close to the 8 line… However, the British arrow was touching it (8 points), while the one of DPR Korea was just out (7 points). Great Britain had thus a 1-point advantage at that time. With their third additional arrow, Kwon shot a perfect 10, whereas Burgess scored a 9, and the two teams were tied again! This meant three additional arrows, which the two teams started with a 9 and an 8. The last arrow was this time decisive with Burgess saving her country with a 10 against a 9 for the opponent. Three Olympic places also for the British!     1/8 final: Russia (5) - India (12)  Another great upset for the Russians today after they also lost in the Compound division this morning. Seeded no. 5 Russia was facing no. 12 seed India in this first round. Their first end was very low with 10-9-9-8-7-6 (49) versus India’s 10-9-9-9-7-7 (51). The Indians increased their advantage to four points half-way (104-100). The difference between the two teams kept increasing up to the end of the match (157-150) to finish at 206-198. The Russians are already out and India goes on to the quarter-finals, ensuring three Olympic places on the way.   1/8 final: France (9) - Japan (8)  France seemed to have a hard match ahead facing Japan in this round. However, the Japanese were just overwhelmed right away from the beginning, being already seven points behind after 6 arrows (54-47). They could never recover and had to leave victory to their French opponents by 205-193. Also France will go to the Olympics next year.     Teams qualified for the Olympics The eight winners of the 1/8 finals have secured three Olympic places each. They are: Korea, France, India, Great Britain, Poland, Italy, Chinese Taipei and China. As the latter is also the host country of the 2008 Olympic Games, they automatically have three spots. This means that the team ranked 9th takes the 8th spot for the Olympics. The lucky loser is Colombia with 205 points!   1/4 final: Chinese Taipei (7) - China (2)  After upsetting Kazakhstan in the 1/8 final (211-195), China had a very bad match versus Chinese Taipei in quarter-final. They started the match with a low 50-point end, leaving the lead to their opponents who shot 54. The difference between the two teams did not change much in the next two series (100-96 and 147-142). As Chinese Taipei seemed to hold victory, the first archer on the field just missed his shot completely, scoring a poor 3… This gave a chance for China to recover, but finally Chinese Taipei managed to keep a 2-point victory at the end (194-192).     1/4 final: Poland (3) - Italy (6) Strange match between these two countries… Poland took the lead early by 53-50 and increased its advantage up to 105-96 half-way. The third end gave rise to a strange situation in the Italian team: Valeeva, shooting first, released an 8, but as she was preparing to shoot her second arrow, she was not feeling all right with this one and turned to her team-mate Tonetta. The latter thus shot her two arrows and scored 7-9. Valeeva then took the shooting line again and released a 3 (!). Thanks to the third Italian, Lionetti, the team did not sink completely, as she scored X10-9. Intermediate score: 146-142. Italy did better in the next end and managed to tie its opponent at 197 points. In the shoot-off the Polish Mospinek started with a poor 5, leaving the door open… Italy rushed into and won this tie-break.   1/4 final: Korea (1) - France (9)  The favourite team Korea proved too strong for France in this round. The Koreans were already leading by 24 points (!) half-way, after one of the French ladies shot a 2 in the second end (159-135). There was no way France could recover for such a disadvantage and Korea clinched this duel by 210-188.     1/4 final: India (12) – Great Britain (4)  After giving themselves cold sweats in the previous round, Great Britain regained its self-control and carried out a strong second match. The British were comfortably leading their opponent good score of 210 points and qualified for the semi-finals to be shot on Saturday. <st1:country-region></st1:country-region>   RECURVE MEN 1/8 final: Italy (seed 3)  - India (seed 14)
Mamma mia! All Italians were holding their breath in this dangerous match against India. In fact, the Indian team was leading after the first end by 55-52. Frangilli even shot a 5 in the second end, and this could have been a disaster if Di Buo had not scored a 10 to close the first half of the match. At that moment India was keeping its 3-point advantage (106-103). The next end allowed the Italians to come back and they tied the match at 159. The last six arrows did not change the situation, leading Italy and India towards a shoot-off (212-212). In the 3-arrow additional series Frangilli opened with an 8, whereas Banerjee gave India a 1-point advantage with a 9. Olympic Champion Galiazzo and Indian Murmu then both shot 8, leaving the lead to India. Finally, Di Buo released his country shooting a perfect X10 while Rai could only score an 8. Italy will be in the Olympics next year! Mario Scarzella, President of the Italian Archery Federation, declared: “Good luck exists! Even with bad shots we managed to bring back home an Olympic qualification for the team. My emotion was very high looking at the X shot by Ilario (note: Di Buo shot a X10 with the last arrow). Lots of emotions today… The other was that of the female team recovering from a big disadvantage over Poland and winning the tie-break.”     1/8 final: Canada (9) - Mexico (8)  The Canadian archers made their way to the Olympics! This is an amazing result for them. After ranking 9th in the qualifications Canada had to face no. 8 Mexico for one of the most uncertain matches of this first Recurve Men round. The match was tight after the first end, with Canada achieving a small advantage of 2 points over Mexico (55-53). They then managed to increase their lead to 111-105 and 164-154 to shelter themselves from any nasty surprises. Canada finally clinched victory and three Olympic places by 220-207.     1/8 final: China (5) - Ukraine (12)  The Ukrainians, seeded no. 12, shot a very strong match in this round versus no. 5 seed China. The two teams started slowly with 52 for Ukraine and 51 for China. The East-Europeans then took advantage of a 5 shot by the Chinese with their first arrow in the second end and finalized a comfortable lead (103-98). Their opponents could never recover from it, and although they got back close before the last six arrows (157-152), they had to admit defeat at the end by 211-204. Ukraine wins three Olympic spots, and China will compete in the Olympics next year anyways, since they are the host nation.     1/8 final: Japan (7) - USA (10)  After the first end Japan was ahead of USA by one point (56-55). Then, the American took the advantage, leading 110-109 half-way. The Japanese came back to one point with six arrows left. The score was then 163-162 in favour of USA. But the Japanese lost all hopes when they shot a 7 with their 22nd arrows and their opponents took an easy victory by 219-213.   Teams qualified for the Olympics
The eight winners of the 1/8 finals have secured three Olympic places each. They are: Korea, Canada, Ukraine, Chinese Taipei, Italy, Poland, USA and Great Britain. Since the host country China lost in the first round today, only the top 8 countries in Leipzig (quarter-finalists) get three spots for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. There is, therefore, no lucky loser in Recurve Men!     1/4 final: Italy (3) - Poland (11)  Another tough match for the Italians today against the Polish archers! They were behind after the first end (54-57), but managed to take a 1-point advantage half-way through (110-109). In the third end the score went up to 167-162 in favour of Italy. However, Poland shot a fantastic end of 9-X10-X10-10-X10-9 to overtake Italy by a hair’s breadth (220-218).   1/4 final: USA (10) – Great Britain (2)  The second quarter-final was an all Anglo-Saxon duel between the Americans and the British teams. The latter took a comfortable advantage early in the match, leading by 59-53 after the first six arrows. USA came back filled in part of their disadvantage (114-111 and 166-161), but could not make it at the end and gave victory to Great Britain on the final score of 221-216. 1/4 final: Korea (1) - Canada (9)  The Korean favourites had an unsurprisingly easy way to the semi-finals to be competed on Sunday. In the second round they led Canada all the way from the beginning and clinched the match by 212-207.     1/4 final: Ukraine (12) – Chinese Taipei (4) The match between the archers from Ukraine and Chinese Taipei was the closest of all quarter-finals. After the first end, the Ukrainians had a slight advantage over their opponents (54-51). Their lead then reduced to 105-103 and even 160-159 with only six arrows to go… With two 10s, Chinese Taipei made the difference in the last end to outshine Ukraine (213-211) and make its way to the semi-finals.     FITA Communication