The opinion of DUENAS: Malaysia had a truly impressive start but then they maybe got too comfortable with the lead and arrows started going out of the gold. Usually that shows your form is not keeping up with your usual standard. Australia must have been nervous at the beginning. It was too little too late at the end.
Recurve Women
Gold Medal – Korea (KOR) vs Russia (RUS)
No. 1 in the world Korea was the huge favourites against the young Russians (No. 9 in the world).
Although their leading shooter, the young STEPANOVA scored 10-9-X10-X10, Russia gave away a 5, a 6 and two 7s in their first twelve arrows. Russia spread the arrows a lot to the left and right.
Korea was not perfect either with a 5 and a 7 on the right side of the target. Archers were probably caught by a gust of wind. The rest of the arrows were all solid shots in the yellow. Korea built a 2-point advantage at the half, 102-100.
It was still anybody’s game and thanks to another 9 and X10 of STEPANOVA in the third end Russia kept the gap at 155-153!
To give it all in the last end, Russia changed the order of shooting and had KHARKHANOVA-STEPANOVA-ERDYNIYEVA on the line. They closed the gap to a 1-point lead with three arrows left, 180-179!
Unfortunately Russia finished the match with 9-9-8. JOO-KWAK and YUN did not miss the opportunity with a 9-9-10 to clinch the gold with the score of 209-205!
Bronze Medal – Japan (JAP) vs India (IND)India was 4th at the last World Cup stage in Porec (CRO) and is the No. 8 in the world. Japan is No. 11.
The recurve women’s teams started this afternoon’s session live on Turkish television. Both teams exchanged a few 9s and 8s, all in the upper right of the target. They needed to adapt from the warm-up field and also a strong wind here on the beach of Antalya.
Japan started the second end with a 6, again high on target, and, moreover got a yellow card because the second shooter was too fast on the line. Thankfully for them the two other archers shot 10 and 9.
Japan reached the 100 mark halfway through but that is not a high score. The archers generally shot too thigh. The Indians put together a 9-10-10 to conclude the second end and earned themselves a 3-point lead.
Japan definitely had a hard time on the field shooting all over the clock on the target (high, low, left, right), including another six. India managed to stay in yellow most of the time and built a 7-point lead.
Japan got a better group near the end but that was not enough to catch India. The Indians clinched the match with one arrow to go and shot another 10 to conclude the match 211-201.
Today we have the top archer Crispin DUENAS (CAN) joining us for the commentary. His opinion on the match: The conditions were tough. A lot of high arrows had to be expected because of the wind conditions. Japan had a couple bad arrows and India managed to keep it more in the yellow with the exception of a few 7s.
Gold Medal – New Zealand (NZL) vs Greece (GRE)
This was a surprise to have these two teams competing for gold.
Both teams were pretty close to one another until they finished the second end, when Greece shot a 6, high on the right. New Zealand had then a 4-point lead 103-99.
Both teams then adapted better to the special conditions of this final field on the beaches of Antalya. Greece put together a 9-9-X10-8-10-9, while New Zealand had X10-X10-9-8-10-9 to increase their lead 159-154.
LAINCHBURY shot the last arrow for New Zealand hoping she would be back on this field with the same success tomorrow for the individual finals. New Zealand won gold 211-204!
The opinion of DUENAS: Both teams fought well. They probably fought not only the wind but also their nerves, as I never saw them on a World Cup field of play for finals before today. They probably earned a great deal of experience and the fact that they reached the final here should be a huge boost of confidence for them in the future!
Bronze Medal – Italy (ITA) vs Australia (AUS)
Italy is ranked 4th in the world and is used to the final fields on the World Cup stakes. Australia has less experience in the World Cup.
Italy did not start the match well at all with 8-5-9. They did not find much of their rhythm until halfway through the match, scoring only 100 points.
Australia was doing better and consistently hit the yellow. They built an 8-point lead at the half, 108-100.
The lead increased to 137-127 after 15 arrows, but suddenly the Australian team collapsed with a 7-8 and 6 just on the buzzer of the clock. They had now only a 2-point lead, 158-156 with six arrows to go.
The world champion SALVI led the Italians with a 10 to start the last end, CHITI had an 8 and ANASTASIO had a 10. Australia had 9-9-10 to keep their lead.
Italy had 10-8-8 to conclude the match. Australia had 8-10 and it needed a 7 to clinch the bronze. A 7 it was and they won the bronze 211-210!!
The opinion of DUENAS: Australia suffered in the third end and the 6 to conclude this end could actually have been worse because of the time pressure. They kept their composure to win the match on the fourth end.
