OGDEN, Utah - True to U.S. western heritage of the 1800s, Team USA is poised to find gold in the Rocky Mountains when the U.S. men's recurve team, U.S. men's compound team and U.S. women's compound team shoot for the gold at the 2010 Archery World Cup Stage 3 finals on Saturday. The team elimination rounds concluded the action at Weber State University, and the Archery World Cup will move to downtown Ogden's Lindquist Field on Saturday afternoon.
The U.S. men's recurve team set the pace Friday as U.S. Olympians Brady Ellison of Chula Vista, Calif., and Vic Wunderle of Charlotte, N.C., along with USA Archery resident athlete Jake Kaminski of Chula Vista, Calif., punched their tickets for the championships. The American trio started the day in the quarterfinal round against Australia with a close contest. During the six-arrow four ends, Team USA opened with a 54-51 advantage. The margin was quickly closed in the second end with the Americans holding a 107-106 lead, with Australia tying the competition in the third end at 162. In the last end, the American team pulled ahead for the victory, 218-212.
"During practice we were all shooting good and solid," Ellison Said. "In competition things got tight and I knew we could pull out the win."
The semifinal round for Ellison, Wunderle and Kaminski started with a three-point advantage over Italy, 57-54. The second end saw both squads with a 52-point end. In the third end, both teams raised their scores where Italy hit for 56 points, while Team USA hit for 57 for a 166-162 lead. Team USA increased their lead in the final end to conclude the match with a victory over Italy, 221-216. The U.S. will square off with China on Saturday, where Kaminski will be shooting in his first World Cup final.
"Close competitions are part of the game," said Wunderle. "Both of my teammates and I were shooting great. It is great to see Jake in his first final. Brady is always solid and consistent."
China commenced the day with an opening round victory over Spain, 223-210. The quarterfinals witnessed China scoring a 228-222 defeat of Chinese Taipei, which was three points from a world record. In the semifinals, China came up against Korea. The neighboring Koreans took the opening lead and had a commanding lead after the first three ends, 168-164. In the closing end, China came from behind to upend the five-time defending World team champions, 221-220.
The men's recurve team bronze-medal match closed the recurve competition. Italy started with a seven-point lead over Korea after the first two ends, 115-108, to only have Korea come from behind to claim the bronze with a 220-219 victory.
Archers compete at four qualifying World Cup stages earning valuable points based on final placement in hopes of earning one of the 32 athlete positions that will compete in the World Cup Finals in Edinburgh, Scotland, Sept. 18-19. The fourth and final qualifying stage will be held in Shanghai, China, later in August.
Men's Team Compound: The U.S. team, who had a bye into the semifinals, opened up by dropping the first set to Australia, but came back strongly to even the score at 2-2. The U.S. team of Reo Wilde of Pocatello, Idaho; Braden Gellenthien of Woodbridge, Va.; and Jesse Broadwater of Jennerstown, Pa., took the lead in the third set for a 4-2 advantage. The next set saw both squads' record five hits, giving the United States one set point for a 5-3 victory and a slot in Saturday's championship finals against Canada. This is the first World Cup event for Broadwater.
"We have put a good group together and it's great we can pull together especially with the new set system," said Wilde. "Perfection is going to be the key to winning the tournament. We are going to have the whole U.S. crowd to enjoy this with."
The other semifinal between Canada and El Salvador was close and remained tied after the second and third set at 3-3. The Canadian were perfect in their final set with six hits to El Salvador's five to close the match 5-3, and advance to the gold-medal final against Team USA.
El Salvador, led by 2007 World Cup Final champion Jorge Jimenez, and Australia met for the bronze and were tied at 2-2 after the first two sets. The El Salvador team jumped out to a 6-2 after winning the next two sets. The Australians did not quit and started a comeback to bring the set score to 6-4. In the final set, El Salvador and Australia tied on hits, which providing a 7-5 victory for El Salvador and the bronze medal.
Women's Team Compound: Only four teams competed in this category - United States, New Zealand, Australia and Canada. The U.S. team defeated New Zealand in straight sets to advance to the gold-medal final against Canada. The U.S. team of Jamie Van Natta of Toledo, Ohio; Diane Watson of Hudson, Fla., and Erika Anschutz of Hamilton, Ohio, were solid in finding the center hit zone on 14 of 18 shots from 50 meters. This is the second time that Team USA has reached a World Cup stage final in 2010. The last time was at the opening stage in Porec, Croatia, where the USA settled for silver.
"It's a challenge technically and also mentally," said Watson. "As a team, we shot better than we did at the last World Cup stage in Antalya. This means everything shooting for gold on home soil on Saturday, especially for me who is a bit the rookie in the team."
In the other semifinal, Canada and Australia had a tight contest that started with a 1-1 tie. Australia took a 3-1 lead after the second end, only to lose the third set and even the match up at 3-3. The last set saw both team hit three of their first five arrows. The last Canadian shot was dead-on center to close out the round and advance to the finals.
The countries from down under, New Zealand and Australia battled it out for the bronze medal. New Zealand recovered from a first set loss to take the lead 4-2 and eventually 6-2. The Australian women shot a perfect fifth set to start their comeback and eventually tied the set at 6-6 for a one-arrow tiebreaker. In the shoot-off, the first Australian was the only one of the six archers to hit the yellow zone and to claim the bronze medal.
Women's Team Recurve: Two of the best teams from qualifications did not advance past the round of 16. Spain, ranked 14th in qualification, defeated No.-3 ranked Chinese Taipei, 215-214. Mongolia upended No. 4 Germany in a tiebreaker, 28-27, after being tied in the regular session at 203 each.
Also in the round of 16 was Team USA against Italy, who were tied at 110 at the halfway point of the match. Italy jumped to a four-point advantage in the third end over the Americans, 166-162. The American trio of Jennifer Nichols of Bryan, Texas; Khatuna Lorig of West Hollywood, Calif.; and Heather Koehl of Chula Vista, Calif., closed the gap after the third end, but ended losing by a 218-217 final score.
The quarterfinals saw China crush the Russian Federation by 20 points, 226-220, while India breezed to a 36-point advantage over Spain, 218-182.
The Korean team started the semifinal round with a 56-53 lead over Mongolia, and never looked back as they won 214-208. In the second semifinal, India and No. 2 ranked China were tied at 54-54 after the first end. In the second of four end, India took a 107-105 lead, and increased it again in the third end to 158-153 and concluded the round with a 215-206 victory.
The bronze medal match was decided on Friday with China competing against their neighbor country, Mongolia. Team China started with a 9-point advantage in the first end and continued to build a lead over the last three ends to claim the bronze with a 222-200 final count.
Korea and India will face each other for the gold medal on Saturday.
Saturday's championship finals for the 2010 Archery World Cup are free and open for the public to attend, and the first 1,000 fans will receive a free hot dog and soft drink for attending. For more information visit www.ogdenwc.com or follow the live results at www.archery.org.
2010 Archery World Cup Stage 3 Finals & Medal Matches
Saturday, August 7 at 4 p.m. MDST
Lindquist Field in Ogden, Utah
Men's Individual Recurve Gold Medal - Woojin Kim (KOR) vs. Jin Hyek Oh (KOR)
Men's Individual Recurve Bronze Medal - Dong-Hyun Im (KOR) vs. Crispin Duenas (CAN)
Women's Individual Recurve Gold Medal - Moon Jung Kim (KOR) vs. Bo Bae Ki (KOR)
Women's Individual Recurve Bronze Medal - Hyun-Jung Joo (KOR) vs. Oh-Hee Yun (KOR)
Men's Individual Compound Gold Medal - Jorge Jimenez (ESA) vs. Braden Gellenthien (USA)
Men's Individual Compound Bronze Medal - Pierre Julien DeLoche (FRA) vs. Rodger Willet, Jr. (USA)
Women's Individual Compound Gold Medal - Doris Jones (CAN) vs. Sandrine Vandionant (FRA)
Women's Individual Compound Bronze Medal - Jamie Van Natta (USA) vs. Irina Markovic (NED)
Men's Team Recurve Gold Medal - USA vs. China
Women's Team Recurve Gold Medal - Korea vs. India
Mixed Team Recurve Gold Medal - Korea vs. Great Britain
Men's Team Compound Gold Medal - USA vs. Canada
Women's Team Compound Gold Medal - USA vs. Canada
Mixed Team Compound Gold Medal - USA vs. Russia
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