26 August 2007 - Beijing Test Event – Quotes of the Day 8 – Recurve Men Finals

Test Events of Olympic Games – Quotes of the Day 8 – Recurve Men Finals Beijing – 26 August 2007   Recurve Men   Press conference highlights   KIM Ha-Neul (AUS)—Gold Medalist On his feelings on gaining the gold medal: “It is rather a surprise for me to earn the gold medal in this international tournament. I want to thank my parents, God, my friends and the supportive spectators.”   On the venue and weather: “Beijing is a little foggy and choky, but since I have spent 23 years in South Korea, I got used to a similar climate to that of Beijing but the spectator stand is too near to the competition field, which to some sense affected my performance. After returning home, I will take some special training to get myself accustomed to this and gain the same result in the Beijing Olympic Games.”   CHENG Chu Sian(MAS)—Sliver Medallist On his feelings on gaining the silver medal: “Everything is OK for me, but my heart almost jumped out of my chest during the matches because this is my first time to attend such an international competition as this Good Luck Beijing International Tournament. I am also grateful for the support from my parents back home and my teammates who came to cheer me on during the matches and sacrificed the opportunity to visit the Great Wall.”   On the lost opportunity of visiting the Great Wall: “Visiting the Great Wall is just our second plan and competition is always the priority. I believe that in the future when I come to Beijing again I will try to fulfill this dream.”   On whether the venue needs to take some measures to improve the wind proof system: “I should say that the wind in the venue has almost no influence for the athletes, at least no influence for me. In Malaysia, there is wind everywhere and I have become used to it, so the wind here is a breeze for me.”   OH Kyo Moon (AUS)—Coach “I would like to deliver my gratitude to my archer who performed greatly to gain this precious gold medal and has trusted and supported me all the time. I am quite honored to win the gold medal and hope in next year, we will earn the same result.”   ABO WAHAB Othman (MAS)—Coach “I am glad that we won such a good result with the silver medal though it is a pity it was not the gold one. I am also grateful for the competition organization for their wonderful services.”   FURUKAWA Takaharu (JAP) - Bronze Medallist On the match: “This is the first time I have entered an international match final. I am very satisfied with my result. After winning the bronze medal today, my world ranking has raised to number 16. The speed and direction of the wind in this venue was a little confusing for me, but it is very good experience for further training. I will make greater effort to prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games.”   On whether the venue needs to take some measures to improve the wind proof system: “I think that the training ground is different from the match ground. The training ground is wider and the match ground is a bit crowded. Maybe it is designed for a better view for the spectators. What’s more, I found the security board changed the direction of the wind. In Japan, I never trained with constantly changing wind directions, anyway, it is a good thing, because in a match all the athletes are in the same venue and experience the same wind speed.”     KIM Ha-Neul (AUS) (T10; 10; 10) 111– 111 (T10; 10; 9) CHENG Chu Sian(MAS) Comments from CHENG Chu Sian(MAS) after KIM Ha-Neul’s victory over CHENG Chu Sian(MAS)in the Men’s Individual Gold Medal Match on Sunday.   CHENG Chu Sian(MAS)-Archer On his performance: “Even though I beat some strong archers today, I felt neither more relaxed nor more nervous in this match. We haven’t competed with each other before, but I think him an excellent archer. When the scores were very close and he shot 3 10s in the shoot-off, I just concentrated on my own arrows and wasn’t affected.”   On Australia’s supporters: “I only listened to my coach on the court and nothing else could affect me.”   On the weather: “In Malaysia, there are many cloudy days like this. It’s OK for me. Maybe a little colder but I will adapt to it.”   On whether he was disappointed: “I feel a little disappointed but it’s OK. Every athlete wants a gold medal and I will try my best in future competitions.”   On whether he has performed better than usual in this test event: “I’m at my normal level. In my training, I can even perform better.”   On whether the competition speed was too fast: “It was OK. As an archer, I can just try to adapt to it, but my coach will instruct me later.”   FURUKAWA Takaharu 112 (T10;10) – 112 (T10;9) GIROUILLE Romain Beijing, August 26 – Comments from GIROUILLE Romain (FRA) and his coach Marc DELLENBACH (FRA) after FURUKAWA’s victory over GIROUILLE in the Men’s Individual Bronze Medal Match on Sunday.   GIROUILLE Romain (FRA)-Archer On his last arrow of the shoot-off after the Japanese archer shot 10:   “I was only focused on my own shooting. It’s not possible to control the performance of the other archers.”   On this tournament: “It’s a good experience for next year’s Olympics, I’m very happy to have performed here.”   On performance: “I was ready for competition and I had a good concentration, that’s the reason why I didn’t make many mistakes. Of course I participated in the tournament to win, but anyway, the real Olympics are next year. I feel satisfied with my performance here.”   DELLENBACH Marc (FRA)-Coach On performance: “I think it is the best competition for him (GIROUILLE) during this whole tournament.”   KIM Ha-Neul (AUS) 111(T10;10;10) - 111(T10;10;9) CHENG Chu Sian (MAS) Beijing, August 26 – Comments from KIM Ha-Neul (AUS) after his victory over CHENG Chu Sian in the Men’s Individual Gold Medal Match on Sunday.           KIM Ha-Neul (AUS) -Archer On this match: “This gold medal match was really tight. I am extraordinarily satisfied with my performance today.”   On the teammates who warmly cheered for him: “I am full of gratitude for them cheering me along.”   FURUKAWA Takaharu 112 (T10, T10) – 112 (T10, T9) GIROUILLE Romain Beijing, August 26 – Comments from FURUKAWA Takaharu (JPN) after his victory over Romain GIROUILLE (FRA) in the Men’s Individual Bronze Medal Match on Sunday.           FURUKAWA Takaharu (JPN)-Archer On the match: “I didn’t shoot well in the semifinal (he shot 108). The score of this match turned out to be 112, so I am very satisfied with it.”   On the shoot-off: “I have no idea why I have to resort to a shoot-off to win the match, but I didn’t want it to happen.”   On the bronze medal: “I finished 5th in the Archery World Cup stage 3 this May in Antalya, Turkey, and that had been my top ranking so far. So I am really happy to win this bronze medal.”   On next year’s Olympic Games: “I am now more aware of my ability following this tournament so I will improve myself to go even further next time.”   On the opponent he wanted to compete with most: “I think it is probably KIM Ha-Neul. I would have competed with him if I had won in the semifinals. We have been good friends for a long time.”   KIM Ha-Neul (AUS) 110 -- 108 WANG Cheng Pang (TPE) Beijing, August 26 – Comments from WANG Cheng Pang (TPE) after KIM Ha-Neul’s victory over WANG in the Men’s Individual Quarterfinals on Sunday.           WANG Cheng Pang (TPE)-Archer On performance and whether he felt disappointed not going further than the quarterfinals: “I’m kind of content with the result. The real problem is that I have not had much training for quite a long time, and have not been in good shape.”   On how to prepare for Olympics: “I need to do more hard training and get my physical fitness improved.”   On the crowd: “It feels good to have the crowd cheering for you, and it’s great that they all speak Chinese like I do.”   CHENG Chu Sian (MAS) 112 -- 99 TERRY Simon (GBR) Beijing, August 26 – Comments from CHENG Chu Sian (MAS) after his victory over Simon TERRY in the Men’s Individual Quarterfinals on Sunday.           CHENG Chu Sian (MAS)-Archer On his opponent missing the target: “I wasn’t sure whether I would win even when my opponent missed the target.”   On mindset: “I think it’s better to be modest. Maybe it was my mindset that helped me to perform well in the matches.”   On opponent: “TERRY is an experienced archer. But I didn’t feel any pressure because the outcome doesn’t matter a lot to me.”   On his wearing sunglasses on such a cloudy day: “They are not sunglasses, but glasses that I have been wearing since I had an operation on my short-sighted eye. I have been wearing them for a year, and it has become a habit to me.”   GIROUILLE Romain (FRA) 110(T10) –110(T9) ELLISON Brady (USA) Beijing, August 26 – Comments from Romain GIROUILLE (FRA) after GIROUILLE’s victory over Brady ELLISON in the Men’s Individual Quarterfinals on Sunday.           GIROUILLE Romain (FRA)-Archer On performance: “I wasn’t in shape at the beginning, but I became better in the latter part of the match.”   On what is the most important thing for an archer in his opinion and what he lacks now as a young archer (19 years old): “Concentration and desire to win are the most important things. I think my desire to win is not very strong sometimes.”   On whether he felt pressure before the shoot off: “Yes, but not much.”   KIM Ha-Neul (AUS) 110 – 104 DI BUO Ilario (KOR) Beijing, August 26 – Comments from KIM Ha-Neul (AUS) and DI BUO Ilario (ITA) after KIM Ha-Neul’s victory over DI BUO Ilario in the Men’s Individual 1/8 Elimination on Sunday.   KIM Ha-Neul (AUS)-Archer “I just kept relaxed and didn’t think about the rain. And as to the wind, at first I felt strange about it, but I kept focused and shot 10s, so it was alright. I just aimed around the yellow ring.” On whether he will come top as he did in the Ranking Round: “I will try, and I have the confidence to clinch gold.”   DI BUO Ilario (ITA)-archer: On his performance: “I am definitely not satisfied with the results. I have no problem with the weather, the wind and other aspects. My concentration is ok, neither more nor less. I have an old problem this year. I spend so much time to find my sight, and in the first three or six arrows I get very low points. Every time I have competed this year, I have been bothered by it and I still don’t know how to conquer it. Now I lost, so I feel very unhappy.”   On his hope: “I’m confident to qualify for 2008. I will attend the national qualification. I still can’t solve this old problem but I hope I can continue shooting with power and I want a good result next year.”   On why he released the arrows so fast: “It’s my habit. I don’t spend much time on the actual shooting, so the speed is fast.”   On the support of the Australian fans: “We are friends. Australian people are very friendly and they like me, though we are definitely at war with each other. When we shoot, we want to win. Everyone does. I won’t let you win just because you are my friend.”   GIROUILLE Romain (FRA) 110 (T10) – 110 (T9) ELLISON Brady (USA) Beijing, August 26 – Comments from Brady ELLISON (USA) after Romain GIROUILLE’s victory over ELLISON in the Men’s Individual Quarterfinals on Sunday.           ELLISON Brady (USA)-Archer On the performance: “Being at the same age (both 19 years old) and at the similar level, I tried my best to shoot a couple of 10 points and one X-ring in this fierce fight. There is little difference between archers, and just our overall condition makes the difference.”   On the tie-break: “I was not nervous when entering the sudden death shoot-off. You can’t control anything except yourself. I merely concentrated on my shooting and tried to fully exert myself, but he shot better with a 10 point arrow. "   On the Beijing Olympic Games: "Hopefully I can represent my country to compete in Beijing Olympic Games next year (USA has already qualified a men’s team for 2008 at Leipzig World Championships 2007) because we should go through a qualification selection first before the Games."       News Service “Good Luck Beijing”