The Chinese archery association sent a different, alternate squad from the regular 'first team’ seen over the 2015 season to date – as did several other nations competiting at Wroclaw 2015. But Chinese recurve archery has real strength in depth.
The ladies team of Cui Yuanyuan, Qi Yuhong and Cao Hui, after a shaky first end, managed to beat Italy 5-3. Cui, the most experienced of the squad, who won mixed team and individual gold at Antalya 2013, was excited.
“We felt pretty good as soon as we got here,” she said. “It's great to shoot out here. Wroclaw has lovely fresh air!”
The men’s team of Yong Zhiwei, Dai Xiaoxiang and Huang Rui had just Dai returning from the team that had denied Japan a Rio place in Copenhagen, two weeks prior. They took the USA to a shoot-off in the semifinal, but couldn’t muster enough over the three-arrow tiebreaker.
They had little trouble dispatching a strong Italian men's team, 6-2 – again, after a shaky first end.
Yong Zhiwei took silver at the 2014 Asian Games, losing the individual final to Oh Jin Hyek, and Dai Xiaoxiang won bronze at the London 2012 Olympics.
Zhiwei was short and sweet in summary: “As soon as we got to Wroclaw and shot our first arrows, we knew it was going to be a good week.”
Paralympiques: Stutzman termine par l’or
JO 2024: Médaille historique pour Barbelin
