Legnica, Poland - One recurve archer and five compound archers have shot their way to spots in the individual quarterfinals at the World Archery Youth Championships in Legnica, Poland. Previously this week, the U.S. secured spots in all team elimination events, including clinching a spot in the cadet and junior compound mixed team gold medal matches.
Today opened with 1/48 and 1/24 elimination matches across several categories. On the recurve side, Team USA's Matthew Zumbo shot his way through wins in the 1/48, 1/24 and 1/16, to face Korea's Jea Choi in his 1/8 match. Though Choi took the first set, Zumbo tied the second, third and fourth, and won the final set, to force a one-arrow shoot-off, which Zumbo took with a ten to Choi's nine. Tomorrow, he faces fourteenth ranked Rui Huang of China in the quarterfinals.
Also shooting their way through to the quarters were five U.S. compound archers. For the compound cadet women, American archer Emily Fischer has punched her ticket to a quarterfinals meeting versus South Africa's Danelle Wentzel. Fischer, byed into the 1/16 thanks to a high qualification round finish, posted a win in the 1/16, and then faced teammate Paige Pearce in the 1/8, whom she stopped, 142-140.
For the compound cadet men, it was Riley Whiting - who holds the world record in his category for a 15 arrow match - who will enter the quarterfinals tomorrow. Also byed into the 1/16, he defeated Simon Mikkelsen (DEN) with a 146-141 advantage, and then won a close 1/8 match versus Adolfo Medina (MEX) with a 144-all tie that resulted in a tiebreak win for Whiting. Tomorrow, he faces Ali Davarci (TUR) in his quarterfinal match.
Compound junior women's teammates Kendal Nicely and Sarah Lance will meet one another in the quarterfinals tomorrow, following solid shooting by both competitors today. Nicely opened her day with a 142-138 victory versus Maria Giannakopoulou of Greece, and then posted a 140-138 win over Deborah Grillo (ITA). Lance, also byed into the 1/16, met Hungary's Fanni Bognar, whom Lance stopped with a two point win, 140-138. Facing Jody Vermeulen (NED) in the 1/8, Lance was able to end with a one point lead, enough to advance to tomorrow's quarterfinal meeting with U.S. teammate Nicely.
Garrett Abernathy is the compound junior male archer who will compete in tomorrow's quarterfinals, in which he will meet Jesse Gale of Australia. Abernathy first met U.S. teammate Aaron Groce, whom he defeated in the 1/16 round with a three point advantage. Then facing Francisco Valaverde (ESP), Abernathy prevailed in the 1/8 with a 147-146 win.
Other U.S. archers competing today included Olympic hopeful Miranda Leek, shooting in the recurve junior group, who was defeated in the 1/8 round. Carli Cochran, in the compound junior women's group, was also eliminated in her 1/8 match, as was cadet compound archer Bridger Deaton, who had a very narrow loss in the same round. Danny Button, also in the cadet compound group, and Ben Cleland, a junior, were both stopped in the 1/16.
Recurve cadet women Lauren Clamon and Michelle Gilbert also got as far as the 1/16, where they were eliminated. Compound cadet archer Kannsas Michaels also ended at the 1/16. Juniors Josh Smith, Peter Kelchner, Daniel McLaughlin and Holly Stover, as well as cadet Mackenzie Brown, all recurve archers, were stopped in the 1/24. Katie Alexander, in the recurve junior women's group, as well as recurve cadets Eliot Simon and Alex Wifler, were all eliminated in the 1/48.
Tomorrow, archers will shoot individual matches from the quarterfinals through the bronze, as well as team eliminations. Continuing coverage will be posted here throughout the week. Team USA is supported at this event by National Head Coach KiSik Lee, together with Assistant Coaches Jim White, Rich Cockrell and Jim Pruitte. The Team is led by DIane Watson and Assistant Team Leader Robert Turner. USA Archery thanks the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Easton Foundations for their support of Team USA at this event. For complete results, visit http://www.archery.org; USA Archery will also be posting updates on Twitter and Facebook throughout the week.
< Back to All News
