Energized and ready, the U.S. women's and men's recurve and compound teams took to the field in Antalya, Turkey at the second stage of the Archery World Cup, determined to show the world that they came to play. What a show it was.
The U.S. women's recurve team of Khatuna Lorig, Jennifer Nichols and Miranda Leek, the team that will represent the United States at the World Championships in Torino this July, proved themselves strong medal contenders, exciting and inspiring fans across the country as they dominated one match after another. "(We're) going for the gold medal match tomorrow in team competition," noted Lorig. "(We) shot great today, I am so happy we did!"
The sixth-ranked U.S. team first met the team from Great Britain in the 1/8 elimination round, taking the match by three points. They faced Mexico in the quarterfinals, advancing with a 210-200 win, finding themselves in the semifinal match with number two seed India. Tying with a pair of 212s, it was down to a three-arrow shoot-off, which the U.S. team took, shooting 28 points to India's 24. The recurve women's team will meet Korea in the gold medal match on Saturday, India and the Ukraine will shoot for bronze.
For the recurve men's team, it was Brady Ellison, Joe Fanchin and Jacob Wukie meeting Australia in the 1/8 elimination round. The U.S. team, taking a 216-211 victory, advanced to the quarterfinals, where opponent Spain was not able to stop the U.S. team, who won the match, 214 - 208. In the semifinals, the U.S. faced a tough opponent in Japan, who clinched their berth to the gold medal match with a 215-212 win. Team USA will face Great Britain in the bronze medal match on Saturday while France and Japan will shoot for gold.
Team USA's compund women - Christie Colin, Jamie Van Natta and Kailey Johnston - received a bye into the quarterfinal matches, where they had a decisive victory over the team from Germany, winning the match 224-213. Advancing to the semifinals, they encountered the team from France, who had narrowly beat Russia to advance. Team USA was strong enough to claim a 228-224 semifinal victory, and will now face #3 ranked Iran in the gold medal match this weekend, while France will meet Venezuela in the bronze match.
The U.S. compound men's team of Rodger Willett, Jr., Braden Gellenthien and Reo Wilde was equally successful, starting out strong with a 229-221 decision over Mexico in the 1/8 elimination round. The team had a very decisive 233-217 quarterfinal victory over the team from Great Britain, and continued their success with a World Record-setting 237 points in their semifinal match against Italy. With this victory, they clinched their spot in the gold medal match versus Denmark on Saturday, while Italy and South Africa will shoot for bronze.
Also shooting in tomorrow's medal matches will be Brady Ellison and Rodger Willett, Jr., both going for men's recurve and compound individual gold medals, respectively, and the compound mixed team of Christie Colin and Braden Gellenthien, also shooting for gold.
USA Archery thanks the United States Olympic Committee for its support of the men's and women's recurve teams at this World Cup event, and the Easton Foundations for its support of the men's and women's compound teams. Complete results can be found at http://www.archery.org; follow USA Archery on Twitter for up to the minute coverage throughout the event.
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