Since winning the overall men's recurve title at the 2010 Archery World Cup Stage 1 in Porec, Croatia, 2008 U.S. Olympian Brady Ellison continued the domination on the international scene at the second leg of the 2010 Archery World Cup in Antalya, Turkey, on Tuesday. Also joining the fellow American on top after the first day of competition is Erika Anschutz in women's compound.
The men's recurve competition started the competition day where Ellison opened up with 339 points in the first end of 36 arrows, which ranked him seventh. At the start of the second end, Ellison took command of the field by shooting 341 points for his 680 total. Get this - he shot the most 10s of the day with a total of 38 out of 72 arrows.
Butch Johnson, a five-time U.S. Olympian, took to the field for his first World Cup appearance this year and placed 28th with a 659 point total. Two-time Olympic medalist and three-time U.S. Olympian Vic Wunderle finished the day in 35th with a 655 point total. Wunderle was the silver medalist at the Porec World Cup. USA Archery resident athlete Jake Kaminski is in 46th with 649 points.
Anschutz found the center 46 times in the women's compound for a 689 total that is six more points better than Linda Ochoa of Mexico, who sits in second place. Jamie Van Natta is currently third overall with 681 points. Diane Watson sits in 18th for the U.S. with 664 points, while teammate Lindsey Christensen is currently ranked 24th with 661 points.
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. Ogden, Utah will host the pivotal third leg of the event, Aug. 3-7. The fourth and final qualifying stage will be held in Shanghai, China.
The women's recurve team was anchored today by two-time U.S. Olympian Jennifer Nichols, who sits in fourth with 658 points. She is only six points shy Justyna Mospinek of Poland, who won the 2010 World Cup in Porec. Khatuna Lorig, a four-time Olympian for three different countries, positioned herself into ninth in the qualification round with a 652 total. USA Archery resident athletes Heather Koehl and Kristin Braun qualified for the elimination round by placing 50th and 60th, respectively.
Duane Price paced the U.S. men's compound team with a 695 total that positioned him 14th, while Rodger Willet, jr. sits 18th only two-points less than Price. Braden Gellenthien is nipping at the other two Americans in 22nd with 692 points. Ben Cleland, also competing at his first World Cup this year is 33rd overall.
Also on Tuesday were the team elimination rounds where all U.S. teams will be shooting for a medal. The men's recurve and compound teams will go for gold, while the women's squads will shoot for the bronze.
The men's recurve team opened the team round by knocking off Australia, 221-209. The trio of Ellison, Johnson and Wunderle excelled in the quarterfinals with a 218-216 decision over China. The semifinals for the Americans was a test as a tiebreaker was needed against Ukraine. The Americans nailed a total of 28 tens, while the Ukrainians found center only 27 times. Team USA will face off against India in the gold-medal match on Friday.
The men's compound team had similar results as the recurve men. The men's compound archers shutout Italy by winning six consecutive matches. In the second round, Cleland, Gellenthien and Willet were tested by Switzerland, but took the 5-3 win. The semifinals pitted Team USA again Great Britain and a second tie-break was needed for Team USA to advance to the finals against South Africa.
Nichols, Lorig and Koehl opened the women's recurve team eliminations with two commanding victories over Spain (207-191) and Japan (217-211). In the semifinals, China got the upper hand with a 214-208 decision. The Americans will square off against Lorig's home country, Georgia, for the bronze.
The women's compound team, comprised of Anschutz, Van Natta and Watson, received a bye in the first round and then knocked off Australia 5-1. In the semifinals, Team USA was faced with a tiebreaker losing decision to Iran. The women's compound team will face Mexico for the bronze.
Wednesday's competition will feature the individual eliminations to determine the gold- and bronze-medal matches that will be conducted on Friday, June 11. For complete results, click here.
The Archery World Cup, which started in 2006, has been a popular event for FITA, the international federation for archery. The event allows organizers to select unique competition venues. In Porec, the athletes will shoot the final matches over the water in the beautiful marina. The Archery World Cup has grown into one of the annual premiere events for the international federation that attracts approximately 300 athletes from 30 countries at each of the various qualifying stages.
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