ANTALYA, Turkey - This was a successful morning for the Team USA archers at the second stage of the Archery World Cup. The day began team elimination matches in the 1/8th round and continued through the semifinals.
The compound women's team of Erika Jones (Grand Island, Neb.), Jamie Van Natta (Toledo, Ohio), and Carli Cochran (Willow Street, Pa.) won each of their matches with wide margins, easily earning their well-deserved spot in the gold match Saturday against Colombia. Newcomer Cochran shared her excitement over shooting 8 consecutive X's for a team score only one point off of their world record of 236 during the second set of the 1/8th match.
In a shocking quarterfinal match, 8th ranked Colombia defeated No. 1 seed Korea. The Korean women's team had been making great strides in the compound division, but Colombia, led by individual finalist, Sara Lopez took the lead with 60 points in the third set and never looked back. Russia and France will shoot for the bronze medal.
A similar destiny was laid out for the compound men. Rodger Willet, Jr. (Gloucester, Pa.), Reo Wilde (Pocatello, Idaho), and Braden Gellenthien (College Station, Texas) breezed through their first two matches with untouchable 237s. The men defeated France in the semifinals and walked right into the gold medal final. No. 11 seed, Italy upset Austria and No. 3 seed, Korea to shoot against Denmark for the bronze.
The recurve women's team, Khatuna Lorig (West Hollywood, Calif.), Miranda Leek (College Station, Texas), and Mackenzie Brown (Chula Vista, Calif.) seeded 5th, easily defeated Australia in their first match, but was defeated by No. 4 seed, the Russian Federation in the quarterfinals, suffering from a low-scoring second half. Japan, seeded 15th caused a stir, upsetting No. 2 China, Italy, and No. 3 Ukraine, working hard to earn their spot in the gold medal final against Korea. Russia and Ukraine will compete for bronze.
The US recurve men, Brady Ellison (Chula Vista, Calif.), Joe Fanchin (Chula Vista, Calif.), and Jake Kaminski (Gainesville, Fla.) also defeated Australia in their first match. In the quarterfinals, Japan upset the US men after a low second set. Seeded 13th, Turkey made it through to the semifinals before Korea edged them out to shoot for gold against No. 6 seed Japan. China will face Turkey in the bronze match.
Lorig and Ellison, seeded 4th for mixed team eliminations yesterday, were defeated early in the 1/8th round by Venezuela. There were many upsets that round, including Great Britain's win over Ukraine and Germany over Japan. The top two seeded teams, Korea and China will face off for gold while Mexico and Great Britain battle it out for bronze.
Jones and Willet, seeded 1st on the compound side were poised well for the day, and shot well to defeat Venezuela before Italy edged them out in the quarterfinals. No. 15 seed Canada shot well in a surprising turn of events, and will face I.R. Iran in the bronze match, while the team from Italy will compete with India for gold.
Competition resumes tomorrow with the compound medal matches. Gellenthien will shoot for individual bronze and the team gold with Willet and Wilde. The compound women's team will also compete for gold.
Detailed results, including statistics for each archer competing, may be found at http://info.ianseo.net; for official results, visit worldarchery.org.
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Some information attributed to World Archery Communication.
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